


Maknaes United

by Miss_Sarcastix



Category: Boyfriend (Band), GOT7, Monsta X (Band), VIXX, iKON (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Angst with a Happy Ending, Han Sanghyuk | Hyuk-centric, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Sorry, Insecure Han Sanghyuk, Insecure Jeon Jungkook, Insecure Jung Chanwoo, Insecure Kim Taehyung | V, Insecure Kim Yugyeom, Insecure Lim Changkyun | I.M, Insecure Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook & Kim Taehyung | V Are Best Friends, Jeon Jungkook & Kim Yugyeom Are Best Friends, Jeon Jungkook & Park Jimin Are Best Friends, Jeon Jungkook-centric, Jung Chanwoo & Lim Changkyun | I.M Friendship, Jung Chanwoo-centric, Kim Taehyung | V & Park Jimin Are Best Friends, Kim Taehyung | V-centric, Kim Yugyeom & Kunpimook Bhuwakul | BamBam are Best Friends, Kim Yugyeom-centric, Lim Changkyun | I.M-centric, M/M, Multi, Park Jimin (BTS)-centric, Some Plot, not a full chatfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 00:21:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 54,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16923162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Sarcastix/pseuds/Miss_Sarcastix
Summary: The maknaes of BTS, GOT7, VIXX, Monsta X and iKON got acquainted with each other and they made a group chat. They discuss nonsensical things at 3am but also have serious discussions about their insecurities and hyung problems, and it’s been a hectic week.Please read the note inside





	1. (VIXX) Sanghyuk's Week

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Miscommunication](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5701522) by [Wildflower7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wildflower7/pseuds/Wildflower7). 



> VIXX just entered a relationship with each other. When Hyuk was caught in a scandal, the hyungs immediately believe the rumors without listening to Hyuk and he is left wondering what the past 3 years as group meant to them.  
> Chanwoo is a compliant maknae who exhausts himself each day by practicing extra because of the leftover feelings from M&M. He concludes that he needs to work harder because he doesn’t really deserve his place in the group. His doubts intensifies with Hanbin’s increased critiques and his members’ annoyance.  
> Yugyeom desperately wants to be treated like a maknae, but refuses to tell his hyungs. BamBam is the only one who knows, but he promised Yugyeom he wouldn’t say anything, so he tries to ensure Yugyeom is cared for, but it doesn’t always work. For the past week the group has been stressed and took out their frustrations on Yugyeom  
> The maknae line of BTS may tease their hyungs but they work hard to ensure their hyungs’ health. With increased stress, they were always considerate, their efforts going unnoticed. The maknaes themselves were trying to handle their pressure without burdening their hyungs, and they walk a dangerous line on the brink of exhaustion.
> 
> I am fairly new to all these fandoms, I just needed some angst, I swear I'm trying my best. There will be inaccuracies in terms of idol friendships and whatnot (hence the au), to clarify because I can't handle tags, VIXX are all dating each other, like polyamory. Also, I have completely ignored the geographical locations of the companies in relation to each other, especially in the chapters to come, so just read it and pretend it makes sense. 
> 
> All mistakes in language, culture, etc. were made entirely by me. 
> 
> Group Chat: Maknaes United  
> Jungkook - kookie  
> Jimin - chimmie  
> Taehyung - teayungie  
> Yugyeom - yugsie  
> BamBam - bammie  
> Chanwoo - channie  
> Changkyun - kyunnie  
> Sanghyuk - sannie

_ Monday Morning _

 

Sanghyuk stared blankly at the wall opposite him. He sat in his bed with his blankets wrapped around him in a feeble attempt of comfort. His mind raced thoughts flying everywhere, yet he was unable to process anything. The tears dried on his cheeks as his tears ground to a slow halt, unable to cry anymore than he has done. How did it all go so wrong? He slowly recollects the events that occured only moments prior. 

It was a slightly later morning than usual, something that all the members had been grateful for. Their schedules weren’t too hectic this week and they welcomed the reprise, they were also granted with a day free of any schedules on Sunday, overall the week had been looking up. The members had planned to have a date night in the dorm with a home-cooked dinner and a promise of movies to celebrate their one month anniversary in advance. The first month in their relationship, it was an important milestone. After practically years of confusing pining after one another they had finally come clean and decided to give an attempt at a polyamorous relationship and so far it was the best time in Sanghyuk’s life. 

The universe however, was not prepared to allow Sanghyuk his moment of happiness. Their manager had come into their dorm earlier than expected, an unusually grave expression on his face. In his hands he held a tablet with a page open. It was an interview Sanghyuk had done for an international magazine, but upon further glance he realized the problem. The headline’s were all wrong, his statements were  _ wrong _ . Never in his life would he have even thought the words written in the article and yet, glaring at him from a screen were the words “ _ I think N is probably the least deserving person to be in VIXX, he isn’t even a good leader”. _

He gaped, “I didn’t...That’s not true! I never said that!” He couldn’t bear to look at the other members and he zeroed in on his manager’s face pleadingly.

“Right now we have no proof of that and this article has no reason to be false,” their manager’s tone was sharp, his eyes softened slightly at the panic in Hyuk’s face, “Look, the company will do what they can to sort this out and see if this has any basis, but right now the article is the only ‘ _ true’ _ statement available, so your schedules have been temporarily halted and you will be on hiatus until this has been sorted.”

Sanghyuk found himself nodding despite the shock, the manager nodded sharply before addressing the rest of the members “The rest of you will still have your normal schedules so don’t be late.” He then gathered his tablet and left, presumably to wait downstairs.

The door shut behind and it was Hakyeon that broke the silence, 

“Did you say it?” The words were quiet, but to Sanghyuk it felt like a blow.

“What?! No! Of course not! I wouldn’t… Never… I couldn’t” Hyuk sputtered in shock.

“What reason could that magazine possibly have to lie?” Leo’s words were sharp and they sliced through Hyuk.

“Hyungs, you don’t… you can’t possibly believe that I said that?” He desperately looked at his members, his  _ boyfriends _ , trying to make sense of what he was hearing.

“We have to go,” it was Ravi who had muttered it quietly, and in unison the members had gathered their belongings and filed out of the dorm ignoring Hyuk, leaving him alone in the dorm.

He wandered into his room, almost collapsing on to his bed. Now here he was, hours later, still in shock. His phone pinged with messages and he reluctantly picks it up with trembling hands. What he reads brought tears to his eyes again, but they were grateful tears.

 

_ Maknaes United _

 

**channie:** sannie hyung! i just read the article, i just wanted you to know that i know you wuld nvr say something like that bout your hyungs and i will always support you, hyung hwaiting! <3

**kyunnie:** ^ dont let this bring u down hyung <33

**chimmie:** ^^ i can come over w/ food n encouragement if you need <333

**teayungie:** ^^^ be strong it will be over soon <3333

**kookie:** ^^^^ everyone’s rooting for you hyung <33333

**bammie:** ^^^^^ we kno u don’t worry bout this too mch <333333

**yugsie:** ^^^^^^ hyung hwaiting, u da best <3333333

 

Sanghyuk beamed at his through his tears, somewhere along the line he had gained a group of amazing friends who all understood him because of their positions in the idol industry, not to mention they were all maknaes. He was filled with overwhelming gratitude towards these friends who he had hardly known for over year, who still had an unwavering trust in Hyuk and provided unconditional support. He frowned as he wondered why his members, who had know him far longer than any of them, were more willing to believe a random tabloid instead of him unlike his newer friends. Abruptly, he sends out a message.

 

**sannie:** my members believed the article they wouldnt listen to me

**sannie:** im on hiats til the cmpny finsihes the ivestgaton

**sannie:** ive cried for the last 2 hrs

**sannie:** idk wht to do

**sannie:** i can’t -

**kyunnie:** if you all xcuse me im going to go yell at some sunbaenims

**sannie:** changKYUN NO

**channie:** you shud let him.. infct ill go too

**sannie:** guYS

**yugsie:** fine so we’ll put our murderous instincts aside

**bammie:** for now

**chimmie:** n e ways

**kookie:** is there anything we can do????

**teayungie:** IK! WE CAN HEKP W/ DIG UP SOME TEA!!!!!

**channie:** ohhhh

**kyunnie:** yeah! im gud w/ research ive als got conneections

**chimmie:** so that settls that

**kookie:** we’ll help speed up your investigation

**bammie:** dont worry hyung

**yugsyie:** ye we’ll sort it out in no time :) <333

 

For the first time since the morning, Hyuk could feel the sheer relief and joy creep back in his body.

 

~~~~~~

_ Saturday Evening _

 

A week had gone by and the reactions from Sanghyuk’s boyfr-  _ members _ , had only gotten worse. Although they didn’t explicitly break up with him, the message could be heard loud and clear. None of them believed him and they refused to hear him out, they hardly glanced at him, and after two days of this harsh silent treatment filled with hatred, Hyuk had retreated into his room that now held only him. 

He spent the most part of his days in his bed staring at the ceiling, he only left to eat when the members were absent and even then it was just barely enough food to sustain himself. He couldn’t bring himself to eat, not really, not when every bite tasted like sand and tossed and turned inside his stomach. He was slowly wasting away and it has just barely been a week.

The worst part was that none of the members even cared. Was he really so untalented and worthless that it was so easy to drop him like dirty, rotten trash? Did any of the three years he had spent with them even matter? Was it all really that insignificant? Was  _ he _ really so insignificant? 

The only ray of hope were the other maknaes who had refused to give up hope on him. He found himself relying on their support more than ever, he even managed to forget his own issues as he engaged in his duties as a hyung, trying to make sure that the others didn’t ignore their own feelings and exhaust themselves with work. It was a tough time for all of them, and he was so glad they had each other. 

Even better was the news they had delivered him this morning. Through means they refused to discuss, the maknaes had found a recording of the interview, proving that Hyuk, far from insulting N, had actually praised Hakyeon with every inch of his life. They had gone step further and found out that the translator who had written the article had actually been paid to falsify the article. The payment was made by a handful of trainees that Hyuk vaguely recognized at his company. They gathered that the trainees had been jealous of Hyuk’s success and pinned him as the easiest target to knock down. 

The maknaes had sent all the evidence and information to VIXX’s managers as well as the CEO of the company. His manager had sent him a message stating that the evidence was extremely clear and that he will get back to Hyuk and the rest of VIXX after a meeting with the CEO to go over the information. Then they would be able to clear up the whole situation and release a proper statement. Most importantly, his members would believe him again.

His breath halts as hears the door open and shut, the sounds of his hyungs coming back from the studio floats into his room. He flinches and burrows himself into his covers, clutching his phone tightly in one fist. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to block out the world. Just a few more minutes, he thinks, then it’ll all go back to normal.


	2. (iKON) Chanwoo's Week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanwoo is doing his best, really. Why can't his hyungs see that?
> 
> Notes at the end <3

Chanwoo bites back a sigh as Hanbin stops the music for the third time in under ten minutes, he lowers his eyes in resignation as Hanbin proceeds to pick apart Chanwoo’s performance. Out of the corner of his eyes he sees the rest of his hyungs grow more impatient with Chanwoo’s abysmal performance. 

“Sorry hyung, I’m really am trying,” Chanwoo murmurs his gaze never leaving his shoes.

“Well try harder!” Hanbin snapped, “We keep having to stop and restart because you seem to be unable to handle even basic choreography! You aren’t the only tired one here Chanwoo.”

Chanwoo winces at that, of course he was just holding them back. He knows that he lacked talent, his singing was never the best and his dancing needed work, but he had thought that the increased amounts of practice hours would helped him improve even slightly. He spares a quick glance at the clock, it was already getting late and he knew the members would prefer to get back to the dorm for dinner. They didn’t really have to stay back, afterall, it was Chanwoo that kept messing up. 

“Hyung, I was going to stay back to practice anyway, I can work on the dance by myself, I’ll come to dorm later,” he avoids looking at Hanbin’s eyes, missing the slight flicker concern in his eyes. 

“Right, fine,” Hanbin huffed, “The rest of you can grab your things, we’ll go back now.”

A sigh of relief travelled around the room, it only served to make Chanwoo guiltier and he holds back a wince. The other members file out of the room and Chanwoo resolutely ignores them as he walks towards the music equipment, he misses the wavering glances that they shot him, the uncertainty that they felt before it was buried by the sheer exhaustion they felt. They left without a word.

The door shuts and Chanwoo stands still staring at the mirror before his knees buckled from under him. He falls to the floor, the exhaustion slowly catching up to him. He spends every day practicing his dance and vocals, rarely does he leave the studios before 2am, but his efforts appear for naught because Hanbin clearly believes that his dancing was worse than subpar. 

Groaning, he pushes himself off the floor and moves to restart the music. He starts, his gaze fixed on the mirror ready to catch any mistake. He doesn’t notice the door reopen as Jihwan steps back in to grab his charger, doesn’t notice and Jihwan stops to observe Chanwoo. Chanwoo runs through the whole dance with no mistakes, who knew he could do so much better without all the eyes glaring at him with judgement waiting for him to mess up. The final beats end and Chanwoo huffs before dropping to his knees, palms on the floor trying to support himself. 

He lets out a short bark of laughter, “This is so  _ stupid, _ ” he mutters, he rubs his eyes with one hand, “God, I’m so stupid, maybe I should’ve stuck to acting.”

He hears a small noise from his right and his head shoots up, his eyes meet Jihwan’s and jumps up from where he has collapsed on the floor, he pushes his sweat soaked hair back and shuffles in place,

“Jihwan hyung, how - when did you come in?” His eyes dart around nervously.

“I uh, I came when you started the music again, for my charger” For some reason Jihwan seems just as nervous as him.

_ Great _ , he thinks bitterly. He doesn’t know what expression flickers across his face, but it makes Jihwan speak again,

“You were good,” Jihwan blurts, “I mean, you didn’t make any mistakes, I could tell Hanbin, you could come back for dinner with us.”

The offer is tempting, he feels wistful for a second before he shakes his head with a dry chuckle, “No, no, I should probably stay back a little longer, go through the dance a bit more, make sure that wasn’t a one time thing,” he offers Jihwan a small smile of gratitude, “You should uh, you should go hyung.”

“Are you sure? You seem tired,” Jihwan’s gaze lands on Chanwoo.

“Who isn’t? Don’t worry about me hyung, I’ll be fine, really,” Chanwoo smiles a little rueful and bitter.

“You’ve been staying back a lot, longer than any of us, I don’t even know when you get back to dorm,” Jihwan presses.

“I don’t stay too long,” Chanwoo lies, “I’ll come back soon,” another lie, “really, you should go.”

Jihwan hesitates, but his tiredness is catching up with him so he hesitantly nods and leaves the room with a small goodbye. Jihwan doesn’t say anything to the other members, the whole interaction getting muddled in his mind. He falls in his bed after dinner and the whole conversation flees from his mind, he forgets it by the next morning, the schedules and practices leaving no room in his mind for anything else.

Back in the studio Chanwoo lies on the dance floor, it was 3am, he doesn’t move. I’ll just stay here tonight, he thinks to himself, I have clothes in my locker. Slowly his eyes slip shut.

The week slowly slips by like this, they practice, Hanbin yells, the members huff and Chanwoo spends his nights in the company. He stops going back to the dorm. His only pleasure comes from the rare moments he finds to message the group chat with the maknaes from other groups. 

He remembers feeling so starstruck when he first became acquainted with his older, experienced sunbaenims. It wore off slowly as he realized how similar they were and they got along like a house on fire. He gets particularly close with Changkyun-hyung, they were both in similar situations having just recently debuted. They’re groups were formed in survival shows and they were both maknaes who had joined the group at a later stage of the competition, they’re insecurities had stemmed from this and they understood each other well.

During his food breaks, he forces himself to eat enough food to sustain himself while using his connections from his acting days to do some digging into Sanghyuk-hyung’s scandal. Poor Sannie-hyung was being persecuted for something he had never done and his members had all abandoned him in his time of need. His hyung needed the support and Chanwoo was only happy to help the people who had been taking such good care of him. 

It was his hyungs who had suggested, on Saturday morning, that he speak to his manager. The exhaustion had been catching up to Chanwoo and he often found himself disoriented and blacking out at random intervals. It was only his stellar acting skills that kept his hyungs from noticing anything. The manager was perhaps the only one, aside from the maknae chat, that knew of the hours of practice Chanwoo had been putting.

So after vocal practice before dance practice, he approaches the manager alone quietly explaining his position and hesitantly asking him if he could have the rest of the day off, he knew that they had tomorrow entirely free as well, but Chanwoo wasn’t sure if he could make it until then. The manager understood and agreed at once, he told him that he would explain it to the higher ups later and advised Chanwoo to grab his things and go to the dorm immediately. Honestly, the manager was relieved that the maknae had spoken up, having witnessed his exhaustion.

Chanwoo had left quietly without finding his hyungs, too tired to think. It was his manager who had explained that Chanwoo wouldn’t be joining them for the rest of the day because he needed to take a break. The words prickled the exhausted members of iKON, they felt a surge of annoyance. Weren’t they all tired? They all had to practice hard, they had just debuted and they needed to be good in order to succeed. Chanwoo was arguably the one who needed to practice the most so how was it fair that  _ he _ got to have the day off? They didn’t know that Chanwoo had probably practiced harder and longers than all of them put together.

They said nothing to their manager, but it was during the lunch break that they went on their group chat,  _ iKONIC,  _ and each berated the maknae for slacking off. They’re words were harsh, they would probably regret it later, but the stress had put them in a state of frustration and they were taking out on Chanwoo. 

Chanwoo looks up from his lunch at his phone expecting it to be from the  _ Maknaes United  _ chat, they had finally cracked Sannie-hyung’s case and had informed all the necessary people that morning before they had recommended Channie to take a break. His throat goes dry and his eyes well up with tears as he reads the messages from his members. Unthinkingly he snaps a screenshot of the messages and send it to the maknae chat

 

_ Maknaes United: _

**channie:** [screenshot.png]

**kookie:** how dare they

**chimmie:** don’t listen to them channie

**teayungie:** they’re just being idiots

**sannie:** you have been working so hard and I know you have improved so much

**sannie:** you helped us all so much too even when you were so busy and we r so grateful

**yugsie:** really you’ve improved so much bear

**bammie:** you deserve this break more than anyone

**kyunnie:** i know it’s hard to ignore them, esp w/ the circumstances

**kyunnie:** just know that u deserve your place in the group and you have talent

 

The tears that had gathered in Chanwoo flowed from his eyes, but not out of sadness. He was grateful for the support from his other hyungs, he felt reassured and his insecurities lessened somewhat from the encouragement and praise from people who were actually sunbaenims. They had to know what they were talking about.

He finishes his meal and reassures the chat that he wouldn’t do anything rash and that he’ll stay in the dorm and rest. He burrows himself in his bed, the other hyungs had to promised to message after their practices during their breaks. He feels the sadness at the situation creep back in the back of his head and he falls into a restless sleep. He spends the rest of the day like that, occasionally waking up every now and then to message the group chat, offering some words of encouragement to his hyungs who seemed to be having a bad day as well.

It was nearly dinner time when he heard his members enter the dorm. His light hearted feeling leaves suddenly replaced with a chilling dread that settles in the pit of his stomach. He hears the voices wafting in,

“Where is that Chanwoo,” Junhoe’s bitter voice hits Chanwoo first.

“Probably still sleeping, the brat,” Donghyuk’s harsh words stab Chanwoo and his eyes flicker to his room’s door, making sure that it was locked.

“Let’s just have dinner,” Hanbin’s voice seals it and Chanwoo dives under the covers trembling. 

He slowly types out a short message to the chat,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**channie:** am i a brat?

He shuts is his eyes tightly, trying to stifle his sobs and fade back into to the sweet embrace of sleep where he can ignore everything and everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was actually meant to be a long oneshot, but I thought it would be easier to do it like this. I'm trying to get this all out as soon as possible and I have the whole plot written out, I just needed to get this out of my head because I couldn't focus with all these plot bunnies jumping around in my head ;_;
> 
> On a side note I'm actually applying to uni and it's so stressful, like all the essay and letters, not to mention my normal classes TT_TT How is it easier to write so much about people I don't even know than it is to write a short essay about myself?!?
> 
> I hope you like this :) The next one will be GOT7's chapter then it'll be MonstaX and finally BTS. Then it'll be the last chapter with all of them and the fluff. Let's see if I can publish it all today!


	3. (GOT7) Yugyeom's Week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yugyeom knows in his head that he is the maknae of GOT7. It's just that sometimes he thinks the hyungs forget. He really wishes they wouldn't.

They were sitting in a car, going to the studios after an interview. It was a simple interview that technically went well, except it left Yugyeom with a depressed feeling. Great, it was only Monday morning and he was already in a bad mood. BamBam, sensing his friend’s emotions pressed into Yugyeom’s side, resting his head on Yugyeom’s shoulder and rubbing soft patterns onto his palm causing Yugyeom to let out a feeble smile.

 

The hyungs hadn’t said anything he hadn’t heard before, it was the same old rhetoric of Yugyeom being a terrible maknae, being so bad that they couldn’t treat him like the maknae, preferring to dote on BamBam instead. The words wedged itself deeper in Yugyeom’s heart each time he heard time. He wasn’t that bad a person, he did take care of his hyungs, he just did it quietly and hid it behind jokes.

 

Secretly, he desperately wished he would be treated like a maknae, doted on like they did to BamBam. He craved affection, encouragement and attention. It embarrassed him to even think it, which is why he could never bring himself to confess to his hyungs. BamBam was the only one who knew, which was ironic in and of itself, but he could never regret it, could never hate BamBam. Not Bammie, his dear friend who said nothing to the other hyungs out of respect to Yugyeom despite the fact he clearly wanted to. Instead he subtly took on the task of babying and caring for Yugyeom himself. He tried his best to stop his hyungs from badgering Yugyeom too much, it didn’t really work but Yugyeom appreciated his efforts.

 

They trudged into the practice room and started to work on their latest choreography. They were working hard but Yugyeom couldn’t manage to get one part down, his brain and feet disagreeing with each other. He could see the irritation grow on Jaebum-hyung's face as he restarted the music telling Yugyeom to get his head in the game. Yugyeom held back a flinch. Starting again Yugyeom managed to get through the part with no mistakes but then BamBam stumbled next to him, feet getting confused with the complicated foot work.

 

The thing is, his hyungs didn’t get irritated with BamBam. They showered him with encouragement and Jaebum-hyung came over to BamBam to carefully go through the step on time with him before starting again. BamBam shot a guilty look towards Yugyeom who just smiled weakly waving off his worries. He was used to this anyway. It didn’t matter, they had the day off on Sunday. So on Sunday BamBam had promised a blushing Yugyeom that he would take him out to the park for a picnic for lunch, they would play and then go for dinner and movie. BamBam had promised to pamper Yugyeom and although he was slightly embarrassed he couldn’t wait.

 

The week goes by with their hectic schedules, the hyungs took out their frustrations on Yugyeom, but they took such good care of BamBam that it hurt. BamBam assured him that it wasn’t his fault and even tried to get his hyungs to stop pampering him and to lay off Yugyeom. For his part Yugyeom did his best not to break down and distracted himself, he worked hard and thought about his Sunday plans when it became too much. He chatted on the maknae group chat that BamBam and he had joined and allowed his hyungs in that group to shower him with the affection they knew he needed. They were all having a pretty bad week from what he could see but he was unbelievably glad that they had found each other to lean on. He also distracted himself by investigating Sannie-hyung's case in his free time.

 

Eventually it was Saturday and they were having an early dinner, it was barely 6pm, he just needed to make it through this one dinner and then it would be Sunday. But as his hyungs continue to slip criticisms throughout the meal, he wondered if he could make it, the week’s events piled inside his heart. BamBam squeezed his knee and he tried to ground himself in the touch. He thinks about the other maknaes from the chat and the equally bad week they’ve been having, the encouragements they had given each other and tries to hold on to that feeling of warmth.

 

“Honestly Yugyeom-ah, you should really practice your dancing a bit more, it needs work,” Yugyeom murmured a quiet assent at Jaebum-hyungs words.

 

“While you’re at it, you should work on your vocals too, they haven’t been as good lately,” Jinyoung-hyung added sharply, Yugyeom bit his lip and nodded.

 

“You could probably use some time in the gym too, do some proper work out,” Youngjae gave Yugyeom a critical onceover.

 

“Or maybe just lay off too much food for now,” Jackson suggested, the food in Yugyeom’s stomach churned uncomfortably.

 

“Yah, how about you say something, are you even listening? Aish, so disrespectful,” Mark had muttered.

 

BamBam hold on Yugyeom’s knee had become almost painful, but Mark’s word was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. And he had been doing so well. He swallows his whimper, and blinks away his tears, he pushes himself away from the table wrenching himself from BamBam’s grip,

 

“I’m done, I can’t do this,” His voice was quiet but the words were heard by all.

 

The hyungs stared in disbelief as Yugyeom rushed into his room and slammed the dorm behind him.

 

“What a brat,” Jinyoung finally said, “How could he d-”

 

“Shut up,” BamBam’s voice was filled with a quiet fury.

 

“Excuse me?” Jinyoung blinked, shocked by the words.

 

“You heard me, he isn’t a brat, he isn’t any of the things that you have been shoving down his throat this entire week. You are all disgusting idiots.” The hatred in BamBam’s voice was chilling.

 

“Yah, that’s no way to talk to your hyungs!” Jaebum finally said out of shock.

 

“Maybe I wouldn’t have to if you all aren’t so blind,” BamBam snapped rising from the table.

 

“What are you talking about?” Jinyoung’s irritation was plain.

 

BamBam thinks about the promise he made Yugyeom to not say anything, he thinks of Yugyeom’s hurt and looks at his hyungs’ faces,

 

“If you really cared, you would find out yourselves, think about it,” With that BamBam left and went into the room he shared with Yugyeom, locking the door behind him.

 

Inside the room BamBam found Yugyeom wrapped in the blankets on BamBam’s bed and his lips twitched up despite the sadness he felt at the sight of Yugyeom’s tears. BamBam wrapped his arm around Yugyeom and Yugyeom rested his head on BamBam’s chest, practically melting into BamBam’s touch. In his hand Yugyeom was holding his phone, giving it a quick glance he saw that Yugyeom had messaged the Maknaes United group,

 

_Maknaes United_

**yugsie:** so i just snapped at all my hyungs and proved them right about being a bad maknae

 

BamBam huffed at Yugyeom’s stupidity, “That isn’t what happened,” he snatched Yugyeom’s phone away,

 

_Maknae’s United_

**yugsie:** this is Bammie, yugs is being stupid

 **yugsie:** the hyungs have been scolding yugs all week but he never said anything

 **yugsie:** but they were really unfairly harsh this dinner about his dancing/singing etc.

 **yugsie:** so yugyeom quietly left the table saying that he’s done w/this

 **yugsie:** which is understandable

 **channie:** omg hyung if you’re bad at singing what does that make me?

 **channie:** they don’t know what they’re talking about, i understand how u feel but remember u r awesome

 **sannie:** like i told channie, you have also done so much for me u care so much for people <3

 **chimmie:** ignore them all you’re an amazing person

 **teayungie:** you are so so so talented yugs don’t let anyone tell u otherwise

 **kookie:** and dancer to dancer your skills leave me in awe when i watch you

 **kyunnie:** personally i actually look up to you <3

Yugyeom felt the warmth return to him with each message and BamBam tightened his grip on Yugyeom,

 

“See? The hyungs are just being stupid,” BamBam said softly.

 

Yugyeom hummed as he typed out a message of gratitude before closing the chat and his eyes, leaning back into BamBam,

 

“Can we just stay here? Like this? Just for a little while?” Yugyeom pleaded

 

BamBam chuckled, “We can stay here as long as you need.”

 

Yugyeom smiled as BamBam kissed the top of his head and he tried to chase away the feelings that came from the events just minutes ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update so soon! Go me! Almost half way done, suddenly I think I can really finish this today :D Anyway just a warning, Chankgkyun's chapter will be a little long and involves more headcanons than these chapters had so far. So please read the notes & summary in the next chapter so that it's easier to understand. The thing is I read so many No. Mercy fics that I ended up creating a story for Changkyun with handpicked headcanons and AUs from them. So the next one will be much more AU, but I promise to explain everything first. 
> 
> This chapter was heavily influenced by three fics I read about insecure Yugyeom, I'll add the links in this note later when I find them again <3


	4. (Monsta X) Changkyun's Week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun is loved by a lot of people. But the few people that craves to be loved by refuse to even accept him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this kind of blew up without my consent and it went a completely different way than I expected. I've explained most of my headcanons in the chapter itself but just to clarify most of the company and the eliminated No. Mercy competitors all adore Changkyun for reasons I have explained.
> 
> Also I have another group chat which happened accidentally whoops:
> 
> Changkyun Protection Squad  
> Gunhee (from No. Mercy) - #gun  
> Yoonha (from No. Mercy) - yoonie  
> Seokwoon (from No. Mercy) - seokie  
> Minkyun (from No. Mercy) - minnie  
> Kwangmin (from Boyfriend, pretend he's Gun's bf) - whippedFor.I.M.  
> Wookyun (I made him up, pretend that he auditioned for No. Mercy w/ I.M) - i.m.representsUs  
> Dongwoo (I made him up too, random trainee) - i.m.fanboy

Changkyun was sitting down with his back pressed against the cool wall of the dance studio, contemplating the unfairness and irony of his situation. The people that hated him the most were the very people he was expected to live with, his members, he wondered if they could ever be truly successful with all the tension that existed in the group. They had all accepted that Changkyun had not bought his way into the group, nor was he promised to debut, but they could never fully forgive him for taking a spot that could have been for their friend.

 

It left Changkyun with a deep sense of irony. Irony because he knew with certainty that none of the people eliminated blamed him in any way. He knew this because he had approached them himself. Weeks after the final announcement, while getting ready to debut, Changkyun had found himself overwhelmed with guilt, the words of his hyungs weighing on his mind. So in a spur of the moment decision he decided to give up on being an idol entirely. He would just work in some store or something, become an underground rapper, just have a peaceful life. The CEO had given him a strange look, then he said he would accept Changkyun’s resignation on one condition: Monsta X had to debut as a 7 membered group, and he would only let Changkyun go if Changkyun could get either Gunhee, Yoonha or Seokwoon to replace him. Changkyun had agreed instantly, how hard could that be?

 

So after going around he had collected the numbers of all three and sent them a message requesting a meeting with all three of them. They were all understandably confused but they had agreed to meet him regardless. Their confusion only increased when they finally met Changkyun in a cafe, he held the air of a defeated person, he could hardly look them in the eyes and none of the other Monsta X members were anywhere in sight.

 

“Changkyun-ah? Why did you want to meet us?” It was Gunhee who had asked after they had all taken a seat.

 

Changkyun took a deep breath, “I want to leave Monsta X.”

 

“WHAT?!?” All three men yelped and Changkyun’s head shot up, earlier shyness gone

 

“Keep your voices down!” He hissed nervously, “Aish, I should have chosen a more private place.”

 

“What do you mean you want to _leave_ , you haven’t even debuted!” Yoonha whisper hissed back.

 

“I don’t belong in the group, I never deserved to win and I wasn’t supposed to win,” The other moved to interrupt but Changkyun barrelled on, “everyone would rather have any of you debut than me, so I talked to the CEO about leaving the company for good, he agreed to let me resign on the condition that I get one of you three to debut in my place.” Changkyun finished and fidgeted with his hands.

 

“What do you mean leave the company for good?” Seokwoon asked sharply.

 

“That’s what you got from out of that?” Changkyun blinked, but the three just gave him a stern look so he continued hesitantly, “I just - I’m so _tired_ , this is my second time almost debuting, but my members don’t even _like_ me and I don’t know if it’s even worth it anymore, I just- I just want to go and I dunno, work in a store or become an underground rapper or something.”

 

“That’s so stupid! You worked so hard for this! You can’t give up now!” Gunhee looked outraged and Changkyun was unbelievably confused.

 

“I literally just told you that any one of you can debut now, and you’re...scolding me… for giving you a chance to debut?”

 

“No, we’re scolding you for giving up _your_ chance to debut,” Seokwoon huffed.

 

“...but… I just said I don’t want it anymore…?”

 

“No, you said you can’t handle the _situation_ , had it been any better you would still like to debut,” Yoonha said

 

“I...I...Look, does it even matter what I feel? One of you can debut now so just-”

 

“I don’t want to debut now,” Gunhee cut off Changkyun.

 

Changkyun gaped at him, “Wha-”

 

“Neither do I,” Seokwoon crossed his arms.

 

“I think I’ll remain a trainee for now,” Yoonha raises his eyebrows.

 

“...What is happening?...” Changkyun pinches himself in case he was dreaming and Gunhee snorts.

 

“None of us feel like debuting with Monsta X, but you took part in the competition and if none us join, I suppose you just have to stay,” Gunhee shrugged

 

Changkyun wonders if he somehow stepped into an alternate reality. Upon seeing the confusion on Changkyun’s face Seokwoon leans forward,

 

“I don’t know what the rest of Monsta X have been telling you, but you won that competition fair and square, the circumstances of you joining couldn’t helped, you did what anyone in your position would have done and if they can’t see that, then they’re just blind.”

 

Yoonha takes over where Seokwoon had stopped, “None of us blame you for winning Changkyunnie, you were amazing and talented and you won in your right, you _deserve_ your place in Monsta X and shouldn’t let anyone push you out of it.”

 

“So no, we won’t debut with them, because you’re going to debut with them like you were meant to, and you can forget the unnecessary guilt that you seem to be carrying,” Gunhee concludes.

 

Changkyun’s eyes fill with tears as he feels some weight leave his shoulders. Their eyes soften as they look at the poor boy duck his head with a wet chuckle. Yoonha and Seokwoon immediately go to his sides cooing and wrapping their arms around him. Changkyun looks so bewildered that Gunhee laughs and reach over to ruffle Changkyun’s hair.

 

In the end Changkyun had decided to remain in Monsta X and convinced the other three not to go and have a serious talk with the Monsta X members, they had reluctantly agreed only because they understood Changkyun. But Changkyun had now gained a new set of friends, Yoonha and Seokwoon had declared him as their child from that day and whenever they had free time they would single out Changkyun and feed him and treat him like a baby. Gunhee on the other hand, seemed to take on the role of a protective older brother.

 

Changkyun never stayed in the Monsta X dorm, he had a few belongings in the dorm on his bunk, but most of his things were split in his locker and his two sports bags. When Gunhee had discovered this and the fact that Changkyun barely got more than a couple hours of sleep, sleeping in empty practice rooms, he had immediately threatened to find the rest of Monsta X ready to fight. Changkyun had talked him out of it, but only by agreeing to stay in Gunhee’s dorm instead. Gunhee took it upon himself to drag Changkyun away from the studios when he overworked himself, and Changkyun found himself getting closer to Gunhee than he ever did with his members. Despite this, he made sure that none of the members were aware of his friendship with Gunhee, Yoonha or Seokwoon, afraid of their reactions.

 

The slight feeling of absolution that Changkyun had gotten after talking to the three inspired Changkyun to find all the other people he had felt guilty towards. He approached Minkyun a few weeks after the conversation with the three. He had apologized, unsure what exactly he was apologizing for but doing it anyway. Minkyun had given him a strange look and then glomped him. Changkyun stumbled in shock wrapping his arms around the other boy. Apparently Minkyun had heard about Changkyun’s conversation through Yoonha but had never expected Changkyun to find him. He punched Changkyun shoulder lightly and told him he had nothing to apologize for, he said that he really admired Changkyun’s skills and strength and just like that Changkyun had gained another friend.

 

After Minkyun he sought out the other trainees that auditioned for No. Mercy with him. Some of them had felt a little bitter towards Changkyun, but they melted in the face of Changkyun’s earnest apologies and kindness. They were shocked by his apology, and they admitted that he really had no reason to apologize to them, it didn’t make any sense. They suddenly understood the kind, selfless nature of the person in front of them and vowed to protect this innocent person from those who might manipulate him. Which was how Changkyun gained a pack of protectors that scolded anyone who tried to say a bad word about Changkyun.

 

Changkyun had also slowly gained a reputation for being kind, approachable and reliable. He had always held a soft spot for any trainee so he never scolded them or made himself seem higher than them. He treated them with respect and often helped new trainees find their way around the dorm and even spent some of his free time encouraging random trainees who felt down. He made friends across the company with managers, trainees, sunbaes and hoobaes. He even made friends with maknaes from other groups and joined a group chat called _Maknaes United._ And that was how Changkyun had amassed a following of his own.

 

Infact, unbeknownst to Changkyun, there was even a group chat with a select few people that was dedicated to Changkyun. Called the _Changkyun Protection Squad_ it consisted of Gunhee, Seokwoon, Yoonha, Minkyun and three others. One was Jo Kwangmin from Boyfriend, Gunhee’s boyfriend, Kwangmin had met Chankyun surprisingly not because of Gunhee. A trainee had ran into Kwangmin in a rush and Kwangmin was ready to scold him for not being careful when he the nervousness and unshed tears in his eyes, immediately he had softened his stance and tried to ask what was wrong and the trainee stiffened, his eyes darting around, clearly uncomfortable with speaking to a sunbaenim. He seemed ready to cry when Changkyun had passed by the two of them, the trainee’s hand shot out grabbing onto Changkyun sweater,

 

“Changkyun-sunbaenim!” The trainee had yelped.

 

Changkyun stumbled and turned around, he noticed Kwangmin and bowed at once, “Good afternoon, sunbaenim.” Kwangmin nodded in confusion as he saw Changkyun turn to the trainee.

 

He recognized Changkyun from No. Mercy and the MX promotions, he has also heard a lot about him and his situation through Gunhee despite never having met him. Observing the interaction, Kwangmin suddenly understood why Changkyun was so well liked and respected by the trainees.

 

“Dongwoo right?” Changkyun smiled softly at the trainee’s nod, “I thought I said to call me hyung, now what’s wrong?”

 

“I-er- I have a practice at-at 3pm a-a-and I’m late and lost and I don’t know where I am or where to _go_ , and then I almost knocked over a _sunbaenim_ , I-” The trainee, Dongwoo, was getting more worked up with each word. Changkyun grabbed his shoulders,

 

“Woah, calm down Dong-ah, you can always ask for help you know, no-one here bites,” Changkyun grinned at the trainee who was starting to calm down, “and I’m sure Kwangmin-sunbaenim doesn’t blame you.”

 

Kwangmin blinks under Changkyun’s kind gaze and stutters, “Er- I mean yeah, I mean no, I mean I don’t blame you, you were rushing, I think I’ve done the same thing myself to tell the truth.”

 

The trainee finally relaxed, Changkyun turned his gaze onto the hallway where he spots another passing trainee, “Wookie-ah!”

 

The boy startles before spotting Changkyun and immediately walking over, he bows at them, “Hello, Kwangmin-sunbaenim, Changkyun-hyun and er-” He looks at the other trainee slightly confused.

 

“This is Kim Dongwoo, he’s a new trainee,” Changkyun explained, “Wookie, you’re free now right?”

 

Kwangmin wonders how Changkyun even remembers all these trainees _and_ their schedules, he had heard of this, but to witness it was something else entirely.

 

The boy, (Wookie?), nodded.

 

“Great, do you think you can help Dongwoo find his way to his practice room? He’s late too so it would help if you explain to the teacher,” Changkyun beams.

 

“Of course hyung!” The boy agreed at once leaving Kwangmin in awe at the loyalty that they gave Changkyun.

 

“Alright, Dongwoo this is Lee Wookyun, he auditioned with me for No. Mercy, an awesome rapper, he’s your hyung, he can help you around,” Changkyun ruffles Dongwoo’s hair as the trainee bows in gratitude, the two of them bow towards them before leaving, presumably to find the room.

 

Changkyun turns to Kwangmin, “Pleasure to meet you sunbaenim, although I’ll admit, I expected that it would be Gunhee introducing us.”

 

Kwangmin grinned, “So did I, I’m glad I met you anyway. The trainees here really like you huh?”

 

Changkyun blushed and looked away, “Nah, it’s not like that, they just-”

 

Kwangmin laughed, “Don’t worry about it, it’s cute, are you going the same way as me?”

 

Kwangmin gestures down the hallway, the same way the two trainees went a little while ago having realized that Dongwoo was headed in the wrong direction. Changkyun nods and they start walking forward starting a conversation about their day and joking about Gunhee. By coincidence they spot the two trainees entering a practice room and being faced with a slightly irritated teacher, Changkyun winces and Kwangmin watches in awe once more as Changkyun goes towards the room. The teacher, who Kwangmin recognized and knew was a strict and stern one, had spotted Changkyun and his expression gave way for a smile,

 

“Changkyun-ah,” The teacher greeted.

“Hello teacher, I actually just ran into Dongwoo up the corridor, I sent him with Wookyun to find the practice room, poor kid was lost, he actually tried to get here early,” Changkyun flashed a smile.

 

Kwangmin knew the last part was an embellishment, the kid hadn’t said anything about going early, there was no way this would work, he thought.

 

The teacher smiled at Changkyun then at Dongwoo, “Aigoo! You poor thing, don’t worry I won’t hold it against you this time, you’ll learn your way around soon enough.”

 

The trainee had beamed at Changkyun and the teacher bowing and then entering the room, Wookyun had taken his leave to get his lunch and the teacher bid farewell to Changkyun. Kwangmin gaped as Changkyun returned.

 

“Nevermind the trainees, everyone here likes you! How did you _do_ that?”

 

Changkyun shrugged with pink cheeks, “I took extra classes with him for vocals and I helped him out with some of class things, he’s secretly a huge softie, it isn’t just me.”

 

Kwangmin figured the last part wasn’t true, it was obviously Changkyun who had gained the respect of the teacher, but he lets it slide. By the end of the day he was certain of one thing, he was just as whipped as the rest of the company was. Which was how he, along with Wookyun and Dongwoo had joined the Changkyun Protection Squad.

 

Changkyun began to feel happy and worth it, except for one thing. One burden that never left even after debut. The treatment he received from his hyungs had never changed. He couldn’t make sense of it. Everyone else had accepted him so why couldn’t they? He sighs and slowly picks himself off the floor, gathers his things and heads back to Gunhee’s dorm after a shower. He reaches the dorm around 3am, the sadness in his chest only got worse and when he entered the dorm he drops his bags and goes straight to Gunhee’s room. He spots Gunhee sleeping on his bed and Changkyun slips under the covers next to him and buries his head in Gunhee’s chest. Gunhee hummed and slowly blinked awake, he looks down and sees Changkyun trembling. He immediately throws one hand around him pulling him in tighter.

 

“Changkyun? What time is it? Aish, you practice too much,” Gunhee huffs, “What’s wrong?”

 

“Why don’t they like me hyung?” Changkyun’s voice trembles and Gunhee feels a surge of anger towards the people he called friends.

 

“Because they’re idiots, if I had my way I would have whooped them all.”

 

Changkyun chuckles weakly, “It’s so hard hyung.”

 

Gunhee looks at the precious boy in his arms and comes to a decision, “That’s it, you don’t deserve this Kyunnie, you never have. I _will_ be having a conversation with them, I’ll bring Seokwoon, Yoonha and Minkyun with me.”

 

Changkyun was quiet for a moment, this was the first time he hadn’t immediately rejected the offer, “Ok.”

 

“Ok?”

 

“Ok. But not now, the schedules are too busy, we can’t afford to mess it up, but we have a free day on Sunday, you can do it then.”

 

Gunhee pursed his lips, on one hand, Sunday seemed so far, but then again, this might be his only chance for Changkyun to agree to this. So he accepted the condition and they went to sleep. Gunhee had sent out a message the next day,

 

_Changkyun Protection Squad_

**#gun:** kyunnie agreed to let us yell at MX but only on sun, they hv a free day

 **yoonie:** im there

 **seokie:** i’ll get my fists ready

 **minnie:** i’ll bring a bat

 **i.m.fanboy:** i’ll record

 **i.m.representsUs:** can i bring witnesses?

 **whippedFor.I.M.:** ^^

 **#gun:** omg you’re all crazy xcept yoonie

 **seokie:** you say that but what you dont know is that yoonie is ready to throw hands

 **minnie:** exposed

 **#gun:** smh

 **#gun:** ftr yes u can bring ppl, but only two per person

 **i.m.representsUs:** :( fine

 **whippedFor.I.M:** *salutes* yes babe

 **minnie:** anyone that saw ur username would nvr guess that ur dating Gun

 **whippedFor.I.M:** ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

 **#gun:** idc tbh, i mean i’m whipped too so my boyfriend has to be whipped too

 **seokie:** relate

 **yoonie:** ^

 **minnie: *** mx be like* “cant relate”

 **i.m.fanboy:** why u gotta be like that smh

 **minnie:** it’s true tho

 **yoonie:** n we gonna change that

 **#gun:** with NO violence

 **seokie:** maybe

 **yoonie:** maayybee

 **minnie:** mAYbe

 **i.m.fanboy:** maybE

 **i.m.representsUs:** Maybe

 **whippedFor.I.M.:** _maybe_

 **#gun:** ok fine, maybe

 

The week went by and although Changkyun had unwavering support from both the maknae chat and the people in his company, he was forced to spend most of his time with the MX members because of the schedules. The words and hatred hit Changkyun hard and he tried his best to hold on until Sunday. It was Saturday morning and things seemed to look good, they had wrapped up Sannie-hyung’s case and Sunday was only one day away. But the words were becoming too much. By the afternoon Changkyun was ready to break, they were having a break at 5pm together in the cafeteria and the group were split between ignoring him and berating him. By the end of lunch he had sent a message to the other Maknaes telling them that he didn’t think he could last until Sunday.

 

What they didn’t notice was Gunhee who was sitting a couple of tables away from them, he had heard everything and was shaking in anger. Infact, he noticed a couple of looks of disgust directed towards the group from people he vaguely recognized as friends with Changkyun. But it was the message he received from Changkyun’s friend Jung Chanwoo that sealed the deal. The younger had forwarded Changkyun’s message to him. He sent a message thanking the younger boy before sending it to the Changkyun Protection Squad, he told them to meet him in the MX practice room, this was happening now, forget Sunday.

 

Meanwhile, Changkyun was standing in the middle of the practice room, head down.

 

“Can’t you do anything right?” Minhyuk huffed.

 

“You need to work harder, just because we have debuted doesn’t mean you can slack off,” Hyunwoo scolded.

 

“It isn’t even that hard of a step,” Hyungwon scoffed.

 

“It’s a miracle he even made it here,” Wonho muttered.

“It’s not just your dance that needs work either,” Kihyun snapped.

 

“I feel like I take care of all the rap production,” Jooheon agreed.

 

Changkyun gulped and shook, he shook his head and ran out of the room.

 

Gunhee just as he reached the room when the door opened and Changkyun ran out brushing past Gunhee,

 

“Changkyun? Kyunnie!” Gunhee shouted down the hall.

 

He turned towards the rest of Monsta X and growled, “Let’s have a talk.”

 

Changkyun ran into the Monsta X dorm, he grabbed what little belongings he left in the room, he moved to the bathroom to grab the toiletries he had left behind one night. He closed the bathroom door and locked it before sitting down and sobbing as the events finally caught up to him. His breathing got heavier and he started to panic, he slowly took out his phone and opened his chat group seeing a message from Chanwoo,

 

_Maknaes United_

**channie:** am i a brat?

 **kyunnie:** of course not, but I think I might be

 **chimmie:** you’re both idiots is what you are

 **teayungie:** chim that’s no way to comfort someone

 **kookie:** what they mean is you’re both amazing and kind people

 **bammie:** and anyone who says otherwise is stupid

 **yugsie:** bammie and i have to go for dinner now, but whatever your members told u it isn’t tru

 **sannie:** neither of you are brats, you have the kindest souls i have ever known

 **kyunnie:** i thnk im hcing a pnic attvk rn

 **channie:** breathe hyungie!

 **sannie:** ground yourself kyunnie breathe

 

A few minutes passed and Changkyun slowly calmed down, he notices a message in the chat,

 

_Maknaes United_

**teayungie:** I just yelled at all the hyungs and left the dorm with kookie and chimmie

 **sannie:** omg why?

 **chimmie:** they kept saying things about us and tae-tae just snapped

 **kookie:** it was kind of hot ngl

 **channie:** umm tmi

 **teayungie:** we’re in manager’s car, chimmie’s driving

 **kookie:** kyunnie-hyung, where r u? we’ll pick u up

 **kyunnie:** mx dorm in the bathroom

Changkyun blinks, looks like he got a ride. He sits down and closes his eyes, deciding to just wait in the bathroom until they arrived. He doesn’t know how much time passes, but he hears the front door fling open and Gunhee’s voice yelling his name, Changkyun croaks out a reply when he hears the voices of the rest of Monsta X. He starts to panic again and he can vaguely hear Gunhee on the other side trying to calm Changkyun down. He barely hears the front door open again. The BTS maknae line have arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so just two more to go. Next is BTS, I have mentioned their predicament slightly here so the timeline doesn't get messed up. I don't actually know if Jimin can drive, and god know where Jimin got the car keys for their manager's car but for my sake just pretend that it makes sense. I didn't actually mean to give Gunhee a boyfriend much less one that was from Boyfriend but things happened whoops. I hope it all still makes sense :) <3


	5. (BTS) The Maknae Line's Week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The maknae line tried so hard to be good. Sometimes they think the hyungs don't notice. Every now and then they wish that the hyungs noticed. Maybe it would have made things easier. But it's ok, they were strong, the would be fine

The maknaes of BTS had made a pact a long time ago, just after debut. They vowed to take care of their hyungs no matter what and do what it takes to lessen the heavy burden that they carried. A task that they carried faithfully through the years, the hyungs never knew, never noticed. If the maknae line had their way they would never find out. Unfortunately, the task seemed to be almost unbearably difficult this week, a big statement considering it was only Monday afternoon. 

 

Their schedules were particularly hectic and stressful, they couldn’t wait for the free day on Sunday. The hyungs however, were getting more and more irritable under the stress. The maknae line did their best to secretly reduce the burden on them but it did nothing for their moods. Not that things were any easier for the maknae line. 

 

They had an interview that morning and they were going for two more before leaving to practice. Since the morning, the hyungs have consistently snapped at all three of them, sometimes for no real reason. The maknae line took it all in stride and seeked support from each other, agreeing with the hyungs without retaliation. 

 

Practice was harsh, Hoseok-hyung picked on every small detail, Jimin and Jungkook suffering twice as much being a part of the dance line. They felt their muscles straining but nodded at Hoseok’s suggestion for extra practice. Taehyung meanwhile was under fire from Jin and Namjoon, complaining about his vocals being off. He could see the producer’s slight confusion out of the corner of his and he was privately just as confused, nevertheless he nodded his assent. All three of them ended up staying long after the hyungs had left. They all silently wished for Sunday to come quicker.

 

The week wasn’t easy, Jimin’s stress reared its head in the form of his eating disorder. Jungkook and Taehyung made sure to sit down for every meal with Jimin, making sure he ate even when there was no time. Jimin was grateful that they never let him slip. Taehyung kept waking up to nightmares, eventually he no longer even went to his bed, choosing to sleep with Jimin instead. The lack of sleep was getting to him and he tried his best to hold on while Jungkook and Jimin did their best to help Taehyung get rest at any possible time. Jungkook on the other, started to overwork himself in the dance studio, his muscles were sore and cramping by the end of each day, his shirt sweat soaked. Jimin and Taehyung did their best to help him get rest and massaged his legs every night before sleep, Jungkook stopped sleeping in his bed, joining Jimin and Taehyung in Jimin’s bed.

 

They distracted themselves from the hyungs’ harsh remarks by throwing themselves into practice, they continued to do what they could for their hyungs and got additional support from the Maknaes United chat. None of them were having good week and he felt particularly bad for Chanwoo and Sanghyuk who had no-one to turn to, no-one but the chat. After some hunting they had pieced together Sannie’s case and they had just contacted the relevant people that morning. They just had to last this one day and it’ll all be over.

 

Jimin panted as he looked at the mirror across him, he had just gone through his dance for the tenth time. He had stayed back with Jungkook skipping lunch at Hoseok’s suggestion. He regretted it and he noticed the disapproval on Tae and Kookie’s faces but none of them were willing to disobey the hyungs. Kookie groaned next to him, equally exhausted. They could hear Taehyung’s singing in the room next door, 

 

“Why do they  _ do  _ this to us? We don’t need to be here! You can’t afford to skip lunch! This is so annoying,” Jungkook whined, sounding like the young kid he was.

 

Jimin felt a sharp sense of pity for him, “God, I’m so sorry Kookie-ah, tomorrow, we’ll go out yeah? You, me and Tae Tae, relax a bit.” 

 

“Sounds good to me,” they jumped at Tae’s deep voice.

 

“Weren’t you practicing?” Jungkook asked confused.

 

“Jin-hyung let me practice in this room, here I had some snacks in my bag, it’s not much but dinner is too far away so,” Taehyung shrugged.

 

They dived for the snacks and they quickly stuffed in their mouths and hid the wrappers incase the hyungs came back in,

 

“We should probably start practicing again,” Jimin murmured. 

 

They practiced straight through lunch and continued when the hyungs had come back. They bit their tongues as their hyungs continued to tear them down and critique every move they made. It hurt because they really did so much for them. They did every single chore at home every day so the hyungs wouldn’t have to. They cooked breakfast each morning so Jin could relax. They helped the managers with tasks without the hyungs noticing, they took care of the practice rooms and the equipment so the hyungs wouldn’t have to. They convinced the managers to postpone unnecessary meetings when possible. They kept silent about their own issues so as not to burden them even more. They did everything they were asked to with no complaints and played around less, but here they were getting consistently berated.

 

They tried to understand, afterall, just because the maknae line taken care of some of the thing the hyungs still had a lot of pressure on them. The schedules had been tight, no-one had gotten much sleep, the stressed, nervous and frustrated. They couldn’t very well yell at the managers or the fans so they took it out on the maknae line, which was  _ fine _ , they could handle it, it was  _ fine,  _ they were  _ fine _ . They had each other and the maknae chat, it would be  _ ok _ . Please let it be ok.

They made through the grueling day and for the first time that week the three of them were able to join their hyungs and return to the dorm for dinner together. They counted it as a blessing and the relief carried them onwards even as the ride back was just as painful as the rest of their interactions had been that week. They took their showers, the maknae line going last, and then they gathered around the table. The maknae line had made dinner in advance as they had done this whole week, so Jimin took the food from the fridge and reheated it, the Jungkook set the table while Taehyung helped Jimin put the food on to the table. They started to eat. No one thanked them, but no-one scolded them either so took it as a bonus. Their phones pinged suddenly and they looked at each other in shock missing their hyungs’ curious and irritated looks. 

 

“Check it, it might be the Maknae chat, it could be bad,” Taehyung said with a bad feeling in his stomach.

 

Across the table Yoongi had huffed, he didn’t understand what Tae meant by ‘bad’, he figured they were talking about some game and felt irritated. 

 

Jimin took out his phone while Taehyung and Jungkook did the same they huffed in unison, 

 

_ Maknaes United _

**channie:** am i a brat?

**kyunnie:** of course not, but I think I might be

 

“Oh my god they’re so stupid,” Jimin muttered, his fingers flying

 

_Maknaes United_

**chimmie:** you’re both idiots is what you are

 

“You’re supposed to comfort them Chimmie, not call them idiots,” Taehyung snorts

 

_Maknaes United_

**teayungie:** chim that’s no way to comfort someone

 

“You’re both hopeless, what you should’ve said is they’re amazing people and that everyone else can take a hike.” Jungkook rolls his eyes

 

_Maknaes United_

**kookie:** what they mean is you’re both amazing and kind people 

**bammie:** and anyone who says otherwise is stupid

**yugsie:** bammie and i have to go for dinner now, but whatever your members told u it isn’t tru

**sannie:** neither of you are brats, you have the kindest souls i have ever known

 

“I was going to!” Taehyung pouts, looking up from his phone.

 

“What do you think happened anyway,” Jimin frowns.

 

Jin huffs cutting off Jungkook, “Excuse me? Hi, remember us? Maybe message your friends about whatever game you’re playing  _ after _ dinner.”

 

Jungkook bristles, “Wai-”

 

Jimin grabs Jungkook’s knee signalling him to drop it.

 

“Of course hyung,” Jimin says, his eyes facing down.

 

“No, go on, what were you saying Jungkook-ah?” Jin pressed irritated

 

“Nothing, I’m sorry hyung,” Jungkook grits out.

 

“Honestly, if you three could work as hard as you goof around maybe you would actually improve,” Yoongi mutters.

 

The maknae line say nothing, Namjoon takes this as a sign of disrespect, “He has a point you know, your performance this week wasn’t the best, you can’t afford to slack off.”

 

The sentences start to swirl in the maknaes’ heads, they can’t tell who saying what, their eyes fixed on their food, food made by them. 

 

“Your dancing needs a lot of work Jungkook, you don’t work hard enough.”

 

“Your pitch isn’t right, your vocals are off, are you even trying Taehyung?”

 

“Your visual needs some work, maybe you should try to diet Jimin.” 

 

It was the last sentence that snapped Taehyung’s self control,

 

“How dare you.” Taehyung’s words contained a chilling fury that stopped the hyungs short.

 

“Tae-tae,” Jimin said reproachfully, “Drop it, it doesn’t matter,”

 

“No! I won’t! They just told you to go on a diet! How can you-?” Taehyung broke off

 

“I’m fine, sit down,” Jimin pleaded but the damage was done.

 

“Let him continue,” Jin said quietly, irritation plain, “If you’re going to be brats about this then you might as well tell us what you think.”

 

“You’ve been spending too much time with each other, you’re turning into kids, like Jungkook,” Yoongi huffed, Jungkook flinched.

 

“That’s it!” Taehyung ignored the protests from Jimin and Jungkook, “You have no idea how much we’ve been working! How much we’ve doing! For you! We have done every single chore in this god damned dorm! We cleaned up the practice rooms and took care of the equipment for you! We cooked breakfast  _ every _ morning  _ and  _ dinner! We helped the manager for you in your place! We even got meetings  _ postponed  _ for you! We practice  _ every day  _ so hard, we don’t even come home until 3am! Do you even know that we all sleep in the same bed? Do you know how many times Jimin almost slipped back into an eating disorder? Do you know that Jungkook dances so hard he can barely even walk to bed each night? Do you know that I wake up every night  _ shaking _ because of nightmares? Do you know that we go to sleep  _ crying every night because of you?!” _ Taehyung is out of breath and the hyungs are horrified. 

 

Jimin and Jungkook have stood up at Taehyung’s sides,

“Our friends, for the record, were talking about their  _ lives _ , not a  _ game _ , apparently hyungs everywhere are just terrible at appreciating their maknaes,” Jimin had never been so passive agressive.

 

“You had no right. We did our best to take care of you, but Taehyung is right and we’re done.” Jungkook’s voice was quiet and disappointed. 

 

The maknae line left the dorm, slamming the door shut behind them, the hyungs made no move to get up, stuck in shock. 

 

“What have we done?” Hoseok looks so torn.

 

“We have to go,” Jin mutters

 

“What?” Namjoon blinks

 

“We don’t know where they’re going! We have to find them!” Jin yelps coming to his senses and lurching from the table.

 

Their eyes widen and the all abandon the food, jamming their feet into whatever footwear they could find before rushing out. They look around desperately,

 

“Look!” Yoongi shouts, “It’s manager-hyung’s car!”

 

They gape at the car speeding away in shock, “Oh my god.”

 

“We have to stay here, we’ll call them or something,” Hoseok says

 

“And what reason would they have to pick up?” Yoongi snaps.

 

“We don’t know where they’re going and they’re using a car, we can’t follow them, we can try calling people they know,” Namjoon reasons while biting his lip.

 

Discouraged, they trudge back into their dorm.

 

The maknae line had left the dorm in a hurry, they ran into manager-hyung’s car in a hurry. Jimin had a spare car key after running an errand in Namjoon’s place. Jimin started the car and they drove off, trying to escape from their hyungs, from everything. 

 

“Where do we go? What’s happening?” Jimin asks noticing Taehyung looking at this phone, they had each sent a message in the group chat. 

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** i thnk im hcing a pnic attvk rn

**channie:** breathe hyungie!

**sannie:** ground yourself kyunnie breathe

**teayungie:** I just yelled at all the hyungs and left the dorm with kookie and chimmie

**sannie:** omg why?

**chimmie:** they kept saying things about us and tae-tae just snapped

**kookie:** it was kind of hot ngl

**channie:** umm tmi

**teayungie:** we’re in manager’s car, chimmie’s driving

 

“Everything’s gone to hell,” Jungkook says

“Watch it,” Taehyung warns, but his lips are twitching so Jungkook doesn’t worry too much.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kookie:** kyunnie-hyung, where r u? we’ll pick u up

**kyunnie:** mx dorm in the bathroom

 

“It’s true,” Jungkook shrugs, “We’re picking up Kyunnie, he’s in the Monsta X dorm, kinda panicking, then Chanwoo, he should still be in his dorm, I’ll ask.”

 

“Alright.” Jimin makes a turn and they’re on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right so, one more chapter left. Let's pretend that the timeline has made sense so far and that Jimin stealing their manager's car for a late night drive out of frustration is completely normal. I swear I tried to make the timeline work but I get confused so I'm just running on fumes now. Here's hoping y'all stayed till here and didn't give up within the first few paragraphs of the story <3


	6. Kidnapped By Tooth Fairies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The BTS Maknae Line become bosses and they rescue their friends in their 'borrowed' car. It's angsty and chaotic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance. Also, I'm splitting the ending into two or three parts and the real fluff will come tomorrow. There was no way I could finish it all today.

The maknae line barged into the Monsta X dorm as the door was left slightly open, they immediately noticed the members, who they proceeded to ignore, and Gunhee.

 

“What happened?” Jimin demands looking at Gunhee.

 

Gunhee doesn’t question their presence, aware of their group chat, “These idiots couldn’t keep their stupid opinions to themselves and Changkyun had enough, I think he came here to grab whatever he had left behind.”

 

“Right, okay,” Jungkook mutters and the three of them approached the bathroom door.

 

The Monsta X watched their sunbaenims with a mixture of skepticism, confusion, and awe. 

 

“Kyunnie-hyung? It’s me, Kookie, Tae-Tae and Chimmie are here with me, come out hyung, please?” Jungkook pleads

 

They all watch with bated breath and the Monsta X members flinch back as the door unlocks and Changkyun stands at the door, eyes red. Gunhee lets out a sigh of relief, but he lets the maknaes have their moment. Afterall, Kyunnie stepped out for them not him. He scans them and finds something in their face and his eyebrows raise,

 

“Oh my god, you actually yelled at your hyungs, what’s wrong with you?” Changkyun exclaims, confusing everyone else.

 

“Is that any way to thank us? Honestly, we drove all the way here!” Taehyung huffs.

 

“I mean we were going to bring you out with us but we could just leave you here,” Jungkook grumbles.

 

“Yeah, what’s up with that? Are you ok?” Changkyun asked and Gunhee shook his head with a small smile.

 

“Look, things happened, our hyungs were being jerks even though we did so much for them, and we don’t even  _ ask _ for much, we just wished they wouldn’t  _ scold  _ us so much you know? But all of you had been so supportive this entire time even though no one had it easy. You help  _ so many _ people Kyunnie, but you never realized how  _ amazing _ you are. So, like us, you overworked and practiced so much and put yourself through so much pain for the acceptance of your hyungs. We did everything for out hyungs, but it’s too much, we don’t need this and I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but  _ I _ for one would like to go out and have some time for  _ ourselves _ .” Jimin’s eyes were shining and the other hyungs in the room had frozen.

“Yeah, ok, that sums it up pretty well, let’s go,” Changkyun shook his head and smiled at the three of them.

 

They spare a look towards Gunhee who had been quietly observing the exchange, “Go on, I still have some things I’d like to discuss with them.”

 

They nodded and headed towards the door,

 

“Don’t hurt them Gun-hyung!” Changkyun called as he left.

 

The four of them clambered into the eight seater car, Jimin at the wheel, Taehyung in shotgun and Changkyun in the back with Jungkook. 

 

“Umm, where are we going by the way?” Changkyun asked.

 

“Guys, read the chat!” Jungkook says urgently.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**yugsie:** so i just snapped at all my hyungs and proved them right about being a bad maknae

**yugsie:** this is Bammie, yugs is being stupid

**yugsie:** the hyungs have been scolding yugs all week but he never said anything

**yugsie:** but they were really unfairly harsh this dinner about his dancing/singing etc.

**yugsie:** so yugyeom quietly left the table saying that he’s done w/this

**yugsie:** which is understandable

**channie:** omg hyung if you’re bad at singing what does that make me?

**channie:** they don’t know what they’re talking about, i understand how u feel but remember u r awesome

**sannie:** like i told channie, you have also done so much for me u care so much for people <3

 

“Oh my god, everything really is going to hell,” Jimin gapes,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**chimmie:** ignore them all you’re an amazing person 

**teayungie:** you are so so so talented yugs don’t let anyone tell u otherwise

**kookie:** and dancer to dancer your skills leave me in awe when i watch you

**kyunnie:** personally i actually look up to you <3

 

“How about we pick Yugsie and Bammie up first? He’s closer now, then we’ll get Channie,” Taehyung suggests.

 

“Good idea.” Changkyun agrees.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** BTS maknae line just rescued me from the dorm

**kyunnie:** @yugsie and bammie ru still in your dorm?

**yugsie:** i locked myself in my room w/ bammie

**teayungie:** great we’re otw get some of your things

**kookie:** we’re picking u guys up 2

**kookie:** chimmie says we’ll be there in five mins

 

Back in the GOT7 dorm Yugyeom gapes at his phone while BamBam snorts, 

 

“Looks like we’re going for an adventure,” BamBam was oddly nonchalant.

 

“Do you not see what’s happening? Everything’s messed up, oh my god, where are we even going?” Yugyeom doesn’t know whether to feel happy or confused so settles on bemusement. 

 

“Who cares? I for one, would love to get out of here,” BamBam grabs a small bag and throws some money and random things into it. 

 

Before he realizes it, five minutes had passed and the the four others had entered the GOT7 dorm. Jaebum had opened the door understandably confused as to who would be coming over, his confusion only getting stronger when met with the BTS Maknae line and Monsta X’s maknae, beside him Jinyoung had huffed.

 

“Yugyeom, your  _ friends _ are here!” Jinyoung yelled, not allowing them to go to his room.

 

Jimin frowned, “Hyung, you really don’t need to do that, it’s fine, we can get him.”

 

“No, Jinyoung-hyung is right, if he’s going to call his friends over the least the brat could do is get the door and greet you properly,” Youngjae voice was stern and Taehyung bristled.

 

“For the record, Yugyeom didn’t invite them, they just decided to show up,” BamBam’s voice cut through and everyone turned to face them.

 

BamBam was smiling albeit tiredly and Yugyeom had look of mild bemusement, his eyes were red. A slight feeling of guilt started to creep into the members of GOT7. 

 

“Speaking of, why  _ did _ you show up?” Yugyeom ignored the other members

 

“Are we going to have to go through this each time?” Jungkook mutters.

 

“Story Time! So our hyungs were being extremely mean to us and it really hurt us because we didn’t deserve so we left the dinner table and  _ borrowed _ manager-hyung’s car and then we picked up Changkyun because the Monsta X hyungs were still being mean to Kyunnie and he was panicking in the bathroom. And now we’re picking you up because your hyungs have been to you all week, and just like us, you just really needed a hug, because you’re the maknae and all you wanted was to be loved and treated like the maknae and they’re blind for not being able to see that. So we’re taking you away with us for now to have some us time.” Taehyung beamed at them. 

 

The members of GOT7 stood stock still as they tried to process the information that they had unintentionally received. Yugyeom, on the other hand, had never looked so happy. He bounces on his toes, grabs BamBam’s hand and rushes towards them,

 

“Ok, let’s goooo Bammie!” Yugyeom whines and the others chuckle at him while his members stare at him having never seen this childlike side of their maknae before. 

 

They leave in a whirl like how they arrived except with Yugyeom and BamBam in tow before anyone can even protest. The members stand still for a long time before Jackson breaks the silence,

 

“He just wanted to be treated like a maknae, and we have complete jerks to him this whole week,” Jackson’s words only solidified the guilt in everyone’s stomach. 

 

“What have we done?” Jinyoung voice sounds so broken.

 

“We crushed him, he didn’t even do anything wrong, we just took out all our frustrations on him,” Youngjae glares at his feet.

 

“He never complained. He never fought back. He was,  _ is _ , a good maknae but all we ever told him is that he’s a bad maknae and then we tore him down slowly, especially this week, no wonder Bammie was so mad at us.” Jaebum looks horrified.

 

Back in the runaway car, Jungkook had just sent another message into the group chat.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kookie:** channie r u still in ur dorm?

**yugsie:** they just picked up me & bammie

**bammie:** i feel like a runaway omg

**channie:** i’m in bed under the covers the hyungs just finished dinner without me

**kyunnie:** jerks nvm you can eat w/ us

**teayungie:** we’re otw to rescue u from the evil hyung clutches now 

**channie:** omg whats happening

**bammie:** chimmie says we’ll be there in less than 5 mins

**kookie:** get ur stuff

 

Chanwoo pinches himself and then re-reads the messages, somewhat confused he stumbles out of his bed and haphazardly grabs his charger, wallet and some other things that he throws into his backpack, he checks the time and notices that it has been five minutes. Still confused he wanders into the living room, his hyungs look up at him in confusion noticing his backpack and red eyes. Jihwan opens his mouth to ask when the doorbell rings, Hanbin was closest to the door so he opens it and the BTS Maknae Line, GOT7 Maknae Line and Monsta X’s maknae barge with Taehyung in the lead.

 

“Maknaes to the rescue! Got your stuff Channie?” Tae chirps.

 

“Oh my god, what’s happening? I didn’t know if you were serious, but oh my god you guys are crazy!” Chanwoo gapes. 

 

The rest of iKON are understandably lost, especially at the sight of sunbaenims from BTS and GOT7, when had Chanwoo made friends with them?

 

“That’s ‘you  _ hyungs _ are crazy’, kids these days, no respect” Jimin huffs in mock offence.

 

“What are you hyungs  _ doing _ here?” Chanwoo is still lost.

 

Changkyun claps, “Ooh me! I wanna give a speech! Okay so, the BTS hyungs were being mean to Tae-hyung, Kookie and Chimmie-hyung, so Tae-Tae hyung yelled at them and they left the dorm in a car like bosses. Then they rescued because I was panicking in the bathroom at the Monsta X dorm, which you know, because the hyungs keep being mean to me and I couldn’t take it anymore so I left practice. Then we got Yugsie and Bammie because the hyungs were mean to them and I think you’re getting the picture here. I understand, I’m in the same position as you, we both joined our survival shows late and even when we finally made it we still doubt our place in our group because our hyungs have never accepted us fully and only make us aware of out failures, but I’m sick of it and I know you are too so come with us and we’ll go out and be with people who actually care about us.”

 

A feeling of dread falls over the members of iKON except for Chanwoo who looks like someone had just proposed to him,

 

“You’re all so  _ sweet,  _ crazy, but sweet, ok let’s roll before I start to freak and question the sanity of this.”

 

Laughing the strangely mismatched group left the dorm just as bizarrely as they had entered.

 

“Umm what just happened?” Junhoe scratches his head.

 

“We treated our maknae like trash for no reason and then the BTS and GOT7 maknae lines and Monsta X maknae came here and stole him like tooth fairies or something,” Jihwan has never felt such confusion and guilt at once.

 

There was a pause “ _ Tooth fairies? _ ” Yunheong clearly can’t focus.

 

“I don’t  _ know,  _ ok that isn’t even important, that kid has been working himself into the  _ ground _ and we did was complain. He does everything we ask him to and in case you haven’t noticed, he barely even comes home anymore. He exhausted himself by spending more hours than any of us to practice and the one time he asked for a break that he  _ deserved _ we scolded him for it.” Jihwan suddenly remembers the night at the start of the week that Monday.

 

“I saw him practicing you know, on Monday, we were all leaving and I went back in to get my charger, he had restarted the music and he went through the whole dance  _ perfectly _ . He dropped to his knees like a rag doll as soon as the song ended,” Hanbin made a noise of distress but Jihwan continued, “He was supporting himself with his hands in front of him and then he started to rub his eyes, he was probably  _ so tired _ just like us except he worked more, he laughed then, and it was bitter and sad and you know what he said? He said it was stupid, he called himself stupid and said he should have stuck to acting,” and that was definitely a whine but Jihwan doesn’t check who, doesn’t stop, “That’s when he saw me, he jumped up and we didn’t really know what to say, I offered to tell Hanbin that he had done the routine well and could come home and rest. He looked so  _ wistful _ , at the idea of just  _ eating with us _ , anyone of us would have jumped at the chance to stop practicing after being so tired, but you know what he said? He told me to go home and eat, said he should practice some more to make sure it wasn’t a one time thing. He didn’t even  _ eat dinner _ . He told me he’d be back soon, and I didn’t remember the next day, but you know what? He didn’t even come back that night. Or the night after that. Or any nights this week. And we did nothing. Nothing but hurt him.” Jihwan was finally done but no one said anything, they couldn’t.

 

Back in the ‘ _ borrowed’  _ car, a series of messages chime in the Maknaes United chat,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**sannie:** manager-hyung just messaged

**sannie:** he’s coming over in ten minutes to show your evidence/info to my hyungs

**sannie:** i’m still in bed idk if i can handle being here when he tells them

**sannie:** i’m scared

**kookie:** so you’re still in your dorm then, great

**channie:** they just barged into my dorm and rescued me

**kyunnie:** the bts maknae line are lowkey knights in shining armor 

**yugsie:** omg kookie’s blushing 

**bammie:** das gay

**teayungie:** n e ways we are otw to rescue u too

**sannie:** omg what

**channie:** ikr?

**kookie:** chimmie said we’ll be there in five - seven mins

**sannie:** ...are u just driving around picking up maknaes in your manager’s car that you stole

**teayungie:** _ borrowed _ , there’s a diFFErenCE smh

**sannie:** right… r u serious rn?

**sannie:** guys?

**channie:** i’d grab some things if i were you

**sannie:** idk how to feel about this 

 

Despite his confusion, Sanghyuk still get out of bed to change his clothes and grab a bag which he quickly filled with some of his things. He hears the door open and the voice of his manager reaches him,

 

“I have news on Hyuk’s scandal and I’d like to discuss the information with you before the company releases an official statement.” 

 

Sanghyuk leaves his rooms at these words, hoping he could escape before his manager begins the impromptu meeting. He enters the room and clears his throat, he regrets it at once as five pairs of eyes turn their glares on to him. His manager’s face softens as he looks at Sanghyuk,

 

“Ah Hyuk-ah, I was just about to show the others the information,” His manager smiled unaware of the tension or the confusion that arose with his kind attitude towards Hyuk.

 

“Is it ok if I don’t stay for this?” He pleads to his manager resolutely ignoring the others

 

The manager blinks and nods, “Of course, but where will y-” He is cut off by the sound of the doorbell. 

 

Ravi leapt up and opened the door only to be shoved aside by Jimin and the rest of the Maknaes United gang. 

 

“The knights have arrived!” Taehyung yells and Jungkook, Yugyeom and Chanwoo make trumpet noises as though to introduce them. Sanghyuk stifles a laugh at his friends’ antics and the looks on his hyungs’ faces. His manager just shakes his head and Sanghyuk feels a sudden surge of gratitude for this man. 

 

“Guys what the hell?” Sanghyuk huffs, “You can’t just tell someone to pack their bags to leave in ten minutes!”

 

“...Did you pack your bag?” Changkyun blinks at him like a puppy and Hyuk sighs

 

“Yes I packed my bag.”

 

“Great then let’s goooo,” Yugyeom is basically bouncing, this kid.

 

“Um hello? Isn’t anyone going to tell me what’s going on? We haven’t all been in the same place since that one night a couple months back.”

“Ah yes good times,” Taehyung wipes a fake tear.

 

“Right let me try this speech thing,” Yugyeom starts at Hyuk’s cough, “So all our hyungs are meanies so the BTS maknae line pulled a wild card, stole a car, became knights and rescued us all from evil hyungs and now we’re here for you because your hyungs/boyfriends people are being mean and you deserve better company.” 

 

There was short silence and then,

 

“ _ Borrowed  _ a car,” Jimin’s statement overlapped Changkyun’s

 

“Hyungs/boyfriends people?” which crashed into Chanwoo’s

 

“Oh my god that was a  _ terrible  _ speech let me try!” Chanwoo rubbed his hands and Hyuk felt unreasonably worried, “So the hyungs decided that they had enough of their hyungs hurting them so they all broke, but the BTS maknae line were the only ones who left in a car, they picked us up one by one because we were all so done with our hyungs and they knew we needed a break. So now we’ve come to get you because your hyungs are mean for believing a random tabloid over you and refusing to listen to you. Plus we did all that research and found out what  _ actually _ happened to prove your innocence and we finally solved it this morning and I think that deserves a celebration. How was that?”

 

Sanghyuk smiles, “That was a beautiful speech bear but are you sure I should join you?” He was just teasing them at this point.

 

“Pleeeeaaaaasssseeee Sannie-hyung?” Yugyeom, BamBam, Jungkook and Chanwoo chorus while pouting.

 

“For the record, I was ready to leave the moment you entered,” The 97 liners and Chanwoo look so offended that Sanghyuk laughs as he skips past them towards the door, the quickly latch on to him anyway and they leave in whirl, “Bye manager hyung.” Hyuk shouts and the door closes.

 

The manager, for his part, just shakes his head and turns to the bewildered remaining members, he starts to speak when he gets cut of by Leo,

 

“Did, did they say that they proved Hyuk’s innocence? As in the article was false?”

 

“That’s actually what I’m trying to discuss right now, those kids have done wonders and I have only recently finished going over everything with the CEO,” their manager frowns at the looks on their faces, “You didn’t  _ believe _ the article did you? Surely Hyuk told you what had happened?”

 

“He-he  _ tried _ , but we,” Hongbin chokes up.

 

“We ignored him hyung. We pushed him away, we thought the article was true and we hurt him  _ so bad _ . We haven’t even  _ seen _ him for the last five days,” Ken wants to cry.

 

“You-you said you had proof?” Hakyeon muttered.

 

The manager didn’t know what to say so he just handed them his tablet, the same one that brought them the new of Hyuk’s ‘betrayal’ a week ago. 

 

They gulped as they watched a clip of the interview with a beaming Hyuk telling the interviewer that Hakyeon was an amazing leader who worked unbelievably hard, and was probably one of the most deserving people in the group although all of them deserved it just as much. He joked that out of everyone he was probably the only who might not deserve to be in the group. VIXX flinched. Then they read the rest of the information. About how some jealous trainees had paid the translator to falsify the interview. How the lady had accepted and the scandal that resulted from it. Ravi burst into tears,

 

“What are we going to do hyung?”

 

The manager took his tablet back from Hakyeon who looked devastated, “Well first I’d recommend that you find him first and then apologize. A lot. I have to go, you better figure this out.”

 

The manager left and after much hassle, Hakyeon was sending out a message to the leaders of BTS, GOT7, Monsta X and iKON.

 

Back in the now packed car, the maknae gang were quiet first,

 

“So really where are we going,” Sanghyuk asked.

 

Jungkook hummed, “Well Channie hasn’t had dinner, Jimin, Taehyung and I left the table before we finished eating like Yugyeom and Bammie, Changkyun and you probably haven’t either, plus we need to celebrate for Sannie-hyung, sooo how about we go to that one cafe with puppies and get some food and cake?”

 

The group murmured their assent when Changkyun spoke up, 

 

“Just to clarify, the BTS maknae line yelled at their hyungs, took a car, rescued all of us from painful and awkward situations and we are now going to a cafe with puppies for cake and dinner. At 8pm.”

 

“.... Yes.”

 

Changkyun snorts, then giggles and soon enough the whole car is overcome with giggles,

 

“No! Oh my god Jimin stop laughing! You’re driving! You need to be able to see!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't finish it but I got pretty far so I'm happy with myself. Also it's like 2 in the morning and istg this chapter was supposed to be pure angst and tears but it turned into crack with a side of angst and idek anymore. Which is why I'm finishing this tomorrow <3


	7. The World’s Ending So Let’s Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything has gone crazy so the maknaes have a therapy session followed by a party. Meanwhile the hyungs drown in guilt with a hint of panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I decided to split the ending into three chapters so that I could focus on the relationship between the maknaes a bit more. I also have some shoddy pretend Insta posts, no joke I spent like 45 minutes manipulating one image (it's obvious which one) just pretend it's a pretty picture that matches my description ~.~

It was a little past 8pm when the maknae gang arrived at the small cafe, it wasn’t actually too far from the BTS dorms and they just hoped that no one would come looking for them. The cafe had just recently been opened and business was slow, which is probably there were only two other people there and only one staff. The young lady had looked up from the cash register where she had been sitting with her textbook, probably studying while working part-time, her mouth dropped open when she saw who walked in. To her credit, she quickly got a hold of herself and treated them like regular customers. 

 

After much laughter and attempts to choose some good food, the gang had finally settled down in a table large enough for the eight of them, slowly they sobered up as the nature of the situation finally hit them,

 

“So are we going to talk about this?” Sanghyuk rolled his mug of hot chocolate in his hand.

 

“I suppose… we probably should,” Jimin’s words were slow.

 

“Great, how about we just go around the table? Take turns?” Taehyung suggested

 

“Sanghyuk-hyung can start,” Jungkook chirps, although his face was slightly downcast.

 

“Right, so you know that we started dating like a month ago, which is kind of why it hurt so much when they didn’t believe me, but I think more than that, is the fact that we have been a  _ group _ for just over  _ three years _ now and I really thought that we had gotten close you know? But for them to just  _ ignore _ our entire history  _ and throw it away  _ because of a  _ tabloid _ that’s just, it’s hard,” Hyuk’s eyes glared at the marshmallows in his mug, Chanwoo and Taehyung squeezed his shoulders from either side of him while the others made their support clear.

 

Chanwoo clears his throat, “Well, I just, I think the problem for me was the whole situation I was in, joining a survival show in any circumstance is already difficult, but I joined late which started a whole chain of issues. The other thing is that I came into this world after acting, and I know I’m not the  _ best  _ at it, but I really did want to do my best at being an idol you know? I’ve been working  _ so hard _ at it, but no one ever said anything and my members just told me to work harder. I just needed one word you know? To give a sign that I was better than three months ago or something, and I really wanted it from them.”

 

Changkyun flashes him an understanding grimace Yugyeom bumps his shoulder against Chanwoo before starting,

 

“I’m used to all to people saying that I’m a bad maknae and stuff, and I know that most of the time it really is a joke, and I don’t exactly  _ look _ like a typical maknae, so I understood. But sometimes it’s like the hyungs were being serious, like they really thought I was a bad maknae, and it might be stupid but I just...I just really wanted a hug sometimes from them, and Bammie does so much for me and I love him so much, but sometimes I wish the other members would love me like that too.” Bambam wrapped his arms around Yugyeom and Chanwoo latches onto him like a koala.

 

“My situation’s practically like Channie’s, being added to a survival show like that...It does things to you, but the worst part is you can’t really be mad at the members because you understand where they’re coming from. But that didn’t make it easier, I was lucky, because I found so many people who really cared and loved me even though I thought they would hate, they helped me a lot and sometimes I feel ungrateful, because I still wish for the love of my members more than anything, but I was starting to understand that I wasn’t my fault, which is why agreed to let my other hyungs talk to my members, I just, I wasn’t able to hold out long enough.” Changkyun smiles sheepishly and Jimin bumps their knees together in a sign of support,

 

“Don’t feel too bad about it, I mean, Tae-Tae hyung changed from meek to fury so fast we almost got whiplash, he had them under rapid fire like a machine gun,” Jungkook snorts.

 

“I was right though,” Taehyung huffs, “They were insulting everything we did, we were handling nightmares, muscle aches and eating disorders, did we complain? No! We handled it and then some. And they had the nerve to tell Kookie to  _ practice _ more when that’s all he ever does these day, but honestly, how dare they tell you to go on a diet? After everything that we went through, when you were starving and suffering, after all that progress we made, after making you  _ skip meals _ to practice, how could they have the  _ nerve _ to throw our problems back in our faces? Besides, Jimin is the one that stole the car.”

 

Jimin yelps, “Yah! I borrowed it! How else were we supposed to get out of there that fast? I don’t see you complaining about being in this cafe with all our friends!”

 

“Oh my god guys, we became therapy circle, I thought you said we’re going out to have  _ fun, _ ” BamBam whines.

 

“Ok, ok, we’re done with serious, over emotional talks, oooh the food’s here! Let’s eat, I’m sooo hungry!” Chanwoo claps his hands.

 

“Oooh, and then can we play with the puppies?! Pleeeaaasseee???” Yugyeom pouted and bounced in his seat.

 

“Why else did we come here, aish this kid,” Changkyun snorts and ruffles Yugyeom’s hair.

 

“Oooh we can take pictures, wait, wait, wait! Let’s take a picture of all our hands holding our drinks in the middle of table!” Jungkook fishes out his phone.

 

A collection of hands decorated with bracelets, watches and rings reach to center from all sides of the table each holding a drink ranging from mugs of hot chocolate  to tea cups to icy plastic cups of iced chocolate and clear glasses of lemonade.

 

Jungkook posts it on Instagram captioned, 

_ @kookiemonsta: Smarter people = better company #ontopoftheworld _

**teatae, gummygyeom and 56 other people like this, 38 comments**

@teatae: clink clink, watch the ice glare #wedabosses2nite

@jimochi:  true friends, true love, true fun #takingoutthetrash

@gummygyeom: can’t hear you over all this love #nomoretoxicity 

@dabam: too busy for your attitude #callsdeclined

@captainhyuk: no room for haters, fakers and liars #theresthedoor

@chanwooingyou: vip time, invite only whoops  #sorrynotsorry

@changkyuute: hakuna matata time with those who care #betterwithfriends

 

“Oh my god, we’re all so petty, you guys it’s so obvious,” Jimin chortles.

 

“We weren’t  _ that _ obvious,” Yugyeom protested

 

“Mhm, #callsdecline, #theresthedoor, #wedabosses2nite,  #betterwithfriends, #sorrynotsorry, #nomoretoxicity to be fair I put #takingoutthetrash…”

 

“Hey! Mine was just #ontopoftheworld,” Jungkook whines.

 

“Sure but your caption says “smarter people = better company” soo, yeah, petty,” Bambam laughs.

 

“Ok fine, we’re petty, but I feel like we earned it, I’m a 17 year old teenager, being petty is like, a  _ requirement _ ,” Chanwoo waves his hand in the air. “Now then, let’s eat!”

 

Meanwhile, the remaining members of VIXX, GOT7, Monsta X and iKON had gathered with BTS in the BTS dorm, Monsta X had gone to their dorms first after being scolded by Gunhee, having recognized the BTS maknae line. Soon after they had received a group text from VIXX’s Leader sent to the leaders of all four other groups, after some discussion they had assembled in the BTS dorm. They eventually decided to have the rest of the members stay in the dorm to call people and check the kids’ social media. The leaders left in VIXX’s car to start looking around place near the different dorms. 

 

“Do you have any idea where they might have gone?” Namjoon bit his lip, not addressing anyone in particular. 

 

“I don’t know,” Hanbin’s words were a whisper, “I barely even spoke to him, I don’t even know what he  _ likes _ !”

 

The guilt was tearing at him and Hyunwoo could understand, “That makes the two of us, you were on a survival show too right?”

 

Hanbin nodded, “If I remember right, our maknaes had joined the same way, that’s probably how they became friends.”

 

“Bonded over our stupidity.” Hyunwoo glared at his hands.

 

“Not that we’re any better, we’ve been a group for over a year now and we didn’t  _ even know _ that our maknae was feeling neglected.” Jaebum’s frown deepened.

 

“And what does that make us? Our entire maknae line hid their own issues from us and took on our burdens on top of theirs and we didn’t even notice. Instead we berated them and used their issues against them.” Namjoon didn’t know how he was going to face them.

 

“Yeah? And us? You may not know, but just a month ago our members had entered a relationship with each other, we were supposed to celebrate the anniversary tomorrow, on top of that, we had been a group for just over  _ three _ years now, and despite that we let our own stupid insecurities make us believe a  _ stupid rumor _ over our own maknae.” Hakyeon’s grip tightened on the wheel

 

Silence took over the car, and then Namjoon’s phone rang, it was Jin, he answered quickly,

 

“What is it?” Namjoon asked urgently.

 

“I-We just-Check your insta,” Jin choked out before hanging up.

 

“Did they find anything?” Hakyeon had pulled over to the side of the road.

 

“They just told me to check insta,” Namjoon was confused, the five leaders took out their phones and opened instagram at once.

 

Soon it was clear what they were looking for, their throats went dry. 

_ @kookiemonsta: Smarter people = better company #ontopoftheworld _

**teatae, gummygyeom and 56 other people like this, 38 comments**

@teatae: clink clink, watch the ice glare #wedabosses2nite

@jimochi:  true friends, true love, true fun #takingoutthetrash

@gummygyeom: can’t hear you over all this love #nomoretoxicity 

@dabam: too busy for your attitude #callsdeclined

@captainhyuk: no room for haters, fakers and liars #theresthedoor

@chanwooingyou: vip time, invite only whoops  #sorrynotsorry

@changkyuute: hakuna matata time with those who care #betterwithfriends

 

They were quiet, no-one knew what to say, the words were clearly aimed at the groups but no-one could blame them. Honestly, it could have been worse, but they’re maknaes were too kind to do that. They didn’t deserve that. Namjoon’s eyes fix on to the lemonade drink, something about it seemed familiar,

 

“Wait! I think I know where they are! I recognize those drinks, I think they’re at this puppy cafe, it just opened recently, it’s just 10 minutes away from my dorm!” The images had clicked and Namjoon yelped, he sent a quick message to Jin as Hakyeon started to drive once more, following Namjoon’s instructions.

 

Finally, they arrived at the cafe, Hakyeon quickly locked the car and they dashed into the cafe giving the poor lady at the counter a heart attack, she was only 18, dammit she didn’t have the time or patience for this, she had exams coming up, how could the universe keep taunting her with idols within ten feet away from her?

 

The other eight had yet to notice their hyungs as they were sitting far from the front door, but the hyungs could hear them speaking, the kids were overcome laughter, the voices overlapping each other,

 

“I still can’t believe your first instinct after leaving the dinner table was to steal a car,” Yugyeom was leaning into Changkyun who was gently combing through Yugyeom’s hair with one hand. (who knows when the seats switched)

 

“Yeah, I mean look at us, we blew up at our hyungs and then locked ourselves in our room, you hooligans,” Bambam joked he had one hand casually over Chanwoo’s shoulder. 

 

“I mean like, I left the building too, but I went to the dorms on foot, not by car,” Changkyun joined in.

 

“Clearly, I’m the winner here, I mean, I didn’t even go to dinner!” Chanwoo proclaimed.

 

“Woah, hey, hold your horses, I’ll do you one better, not only was I absent for dinner, they didn’t even  _ see _ me for like five days,” Sanghyuk leaned back in his chair with an air of triumph.

 

“Wow, I feel like I’m under attack, do you feel it?” Jimin stuck his tongue out before taking a sip of his iced chocolate.

 

“Do you treat all your heroes like this? Where is the gratitude? I am  _ hurt _ ” Jungkook grabs at his chest in mock agony.

 

“Yeah, see if we come to your rescue after this!” Taehyung copied Jimin and stuck his tongue too.

 

“Nooo! Please, I’m sorry!” Yugyeom wailed.

 

“Hmmph,” Jimin turned his nose up and they all dissolved into giggles again.

 

Jimin clapped and thanked the waitress as she set down a slice of cake on the table,

 

“Ok, take note of this moment you guys, this is my  _ third  _ slice of cake, and I shall eat it…guilt free!” Jimin declared with gusto. 

 

“Well, you should, I mean you skipped lunch  _ and  _ dinner,” Taehyung huffed.

 

“I still can’t believe they made you do that,” Chanwoo shook his head.

 

“ _ Any _ ways, let’s do this!” Jimin picks up his fork, and slowly stabs the cake.

 

“Woo! Go Jimin! Eat that Cake!” The other maknaes cheered and clapped.

 

“Oh my gawd, stahp, you guys are too much,” Jimin said as he swallowed some of the cake.

 

“We’re just so proud of you for eating,” Sanghyuk wipes a fake tear but his words are sincere.

 

“You’re doing great sweetie,” Changkyun nodded with faux-seriousness.

 

“That’s sweetie- _ hyung  _ to you,” Jimin grumbled good naturedly. “Ok so I’m eating my third slice of cake which  _ means _ that now Sanghyuk has to post a picture on his insta with him kissing Yugyeom’s cheek.”

 

“I would have done it anyway,” Sanghyuk threw his arm around Yugyeom snatching him from Changkyun’s grip. 

 

Jungkook grins and takes Sanghyuk’s phone to snap the picture, Yugyeom’s face is beaming, his eyes almost disappearing, his nose scrunches and he presses one hand on his other cheek as Sanghyuk leans in and smooches Yugyeom’s cheek. It was adorable but it still caused the stomach’s of Jaebum and Hakyeon to churn uncomfortably. Sanghyuk cackled as he posts the photo on instagram and hyungs check their phones to read it, still trying to gather the courage to approach them, hesitant to ruin their good time when they don’t have the right.

 

@captainhyuk: look at this cute angel! Mwah #inlove

**dabam, gummygyeom and 69 other people like this, 33 comments**

@dabam: look at my bby getting the love he deserves #precious

@kookiemonsta: don’t know who i’m more jealous of #cute

@jimochi: you’re welcome #imcupid

@teayungie: cowards you should have gone for the lips #realkisses

@chanwooingyou: umm whos single #readytomingle

@changkyuute: @gummygyeom y u no reply? He ded #loveoverload

@gummygyeom: shhh let me have my moment #bequiet

 

The maknaes were roaring with laughter, Jimin got some cream on his nose and the next thing you know he was posting a video of him with his drink

  
  


@jimochi: true happiness is the ability to stuff one’s face with food #cake

**kookiemonsta, captainhyuk and 58 other people like this, 23 comments**

@gummygyeom: the secret of life #preach

@kookiemonsta: idk how much i ate but #noregrets

@teatae: yeah, you go chimmie, you show em! #beautifulpeople

@changkyuute: teach me your ways T_T #admiringbeauty

@chanwooingyou: we stan a god #jiminfanboy

@captainhyuk: liked and subscribed #therealtruth

@dabam: i knew i liked you for a reason #whereisthelie

 

Finally the leaders took a deep breath and put away their phones, they slowly approached the table, Yugyeom was the first to notice. He straightened up from where he was leaning on Sanghyuk, slapping at Hyuk and Changkyun’s chests, Hyuk looked and his eyes widened, he straightens his back and punches Chanwoo’s shoulder next to him. Chanwoo grabs his shoulder before noticing the hyungs and choking on his spit, he flails and whacks Bambam on his chest.  On the other side Changkyun’s face goes blank and he kicks Taehyung’s shin, who twists around and then startles and falls onto Jungkook’s lap, Jungkook yelps and leans back catching sight of the hyungs, and poor Jimin is suddenly dragged off his chair on to the floor by a flailing Bambam and Jungkook. Jimin brings down Jungkook who brings down Taehyung who desperately clutched at Changkyun’s feet unfortunately bringing him down as well. On the other side Bambam’s flailing had gotten tangled into Chanwoo’s flailing and they both went down with Jimin. Sanghyuk makes a grab for Chanwoo, only to be dragged down himself, his foot catches on Yugyeom’s chair and the next thing you know all the maknaes have ended up on the floor. 

 

The leaders gape at the tangled mess on the floor,

 

“Umm, a little help here?” Jungkook grumbles.

 

The leaders startle and dive forward to help them up. Sanghyuk swallows and looks away as he finds himself inches away from Hakyeon’s face, in his arms. Yugyeom finds himself stiffening as Jaebum checks both him and Bammie for any injuries. Chanwoo gapes as Hanbin pulls him up and then ruffles his hair before dragging him into a bone crushing hug, he shares a bewildered glance with Changkyun as Hyunwoo fusses over Changkyun’s arm that had crushed under the pile. Namjoon eventually manages to detangle all three of his members and their eyes widen as Namjoon flails his arms and opens and closes his mouth like a goldfish, trying to say something but unable to. Finally his words ring loud and clear in everyone’s ears.

 

“All the hyungs are waiting in our dorm, we uh, we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than I thought, but I had to finish up some work T.T If it's bad it's cause I got like four hours of sleep last night smh, but I'm fine (i'm not I got a total of like ten hours of interrupted sleep for the past 3 days help) 
> 
> Anyways, you may have notice that no proper confrontation has happened yet, which is true. But I have a dilemma, so when I get all the groups together in the next chap there will be five groups and 34 characters, I will not be able to dish up as much fluff as we would like, so I have a proposal. Personally, I think just having one conversation is in no way enough to fix this mess, and it will take time for the maknaes to warm up to their hyungs again. So I was wondering if you guys would like it if I write one chapter per group again but this time, post apology, and it will center on the hyungs witnessing their maknaes' awesomness plus angst and fluff, so this way you can get the all the fluff you need. But this means that this story that was meant to be oneshot, that became a 6 chaptered story, that then became a 7 chaptered story, that then became an 8 chaptered story, will become a 13 chaptered story. So if you guys want that then leave a comment :) I only need like three "yes"s and I'm sold.
> 
> Also completely unrelated sidenote, but I was editing my writing, and have you guys ever noticed how much even changing one word can effect the whole tone/mood of something? Like the difference between "Jungkook mutters" and "Jungkook grits out" ? And it's so cool because that "mood" isn't even caused by just one sense in particular. Like you could be thinking about the sight of Jungkook, head down muttering vs the sight of him grinding his teeth and glaring, or you could be imagining the sound of him softly muttering vs the sound of a slight growly under tone in the gritting. Or maybe it's an emotion thing for someone, like the mild annoyance with the major defeat in muttering vs the more angry determination that comes with gritting. Maybe it's even associated with a color, like for me I associate muttering with a mild yellow, like yellow because it's still bright and glaring but mild because it's kind of faded with fear/defeat or something else, and grit I kind of see this brownish red, brown for the willingness to get your hands in the dirt and stand your ground, and red for blood pounding determination/rage. Whoops I've digressed, anyways...
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this <3


	8. The Real Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hyungs finally get their maknaes back and it's time to clean up the messes they have made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, sorry in advance for VIXX's bit, it's short and I wasn't completely satisfied with it but there it is. <3  
> Edited four times after posting smh, I need to proofread better <3

The car ride back was strange, the maknaes still used the car they had come in and the leaders often found themselves checking if the car hadn’t driven off away from the, not that they could blame them if it did, but still. It was only a ten minute drive but it felt like an hour for everyone involved, a solemn feeling had fallen over the maknaes and they remained silent the whole way. The leaders were overwhelmed with of having failed their maknaes so badly, especially as the _leaders_. The groups in the dorm didn’t interact with each other, they were too nervous and scared, they paced, cleaned, messed up their hair while biting their nails. The door opened and everyone jumped, the leaders trailed in with the eight maknaes behind them, there was a sense of relief but also fear that enveloped the hyungs.

 

As pre-arranged by the hyungs, the five groups grabbed their maknaes and split up into different rooms to have a private, much needed discussion. VIXX were in a spare bedroom down the corridor, GOT7 were in Jungkook and Hoseok’s room, Monsta X occupied the kitchen, iKON stayed in the living room and BTS disappeared into Namjoon, Yoongi, and Seokjin’s room.

 

_VIXX_

Sanghyuk’s breath gets caught in his throat as Ken locks the door behind him and all of the hyungs turn to face him. He keeps his gaze fixed on the floor, too scared to look up, too scared to hear what they have to say. He doesn’t what to be hurt, not anymore. He doesn’t know what his hyungs see in his posture but he hears a broken sob and his head shoots up,

 

“Oh my god, _Hyukie_ ,” Leo has his face in his hands and his tears drip onto the floor.

 

Sanghyuk immediately goes to his side, pulling Leo into his side, “Don’t cry, please don’t cry, I’m sorry, I-”

 

“Don’t _apologize_. You can’t - how can you-?” Ravi looks unbelievably frustrated.

 

Leo shakes his head, “he’s right you shouldn’t be apologizing.”

 

Sanghyuk feels so confused, this wasn’t what he expected, he didn’t know what he expected, but this wasn’t it. So he backs into a wall, hold his hands together, his head down, eyes welling up because he doesn’t know _what’s happening_ . There’s a choke from somewhere in the room and the next thing he knows Hakyeon is in front of him and taking Hyuk’s chin in his so _gently_ , Sanghyuk wants to cry because he missed this,

 

“Oh god, Hyukie, what have we done,” Hakyeon murmurs, “...We saw the information, you-god you were so _nice_ about _all_ of us, the only person you insulted was yourself, which was stupid and not true, but we were complete idiots and we decided to _forget_ the past three years we had together and believe a some stupid rumor and… I-I know it’s no excuse and it doesn’t mean anything, but were so _scared_ , Hyukie, scared and insecure. Because you’re so young and precious, and god you could have anyone you wanted, so why us? That article hit us straight in our insecurities and doubts and we pushed you away, but we _never should’ve_ done that,” Hakyeon keeps talking, but Sanghyuk _understands_ , his eyes dart around the room and he sees the same look of guilt and pain and he knows it’s real, knows that they love him, they’re just stupid sometimes. His eyes focus back on Hakyeon, he’s still talking and Hyuk’s eyes drop to his lips, they’re so close and Hakyeon is still holding Hyuk’s chin, and well, god help him but he hasn’t kissed any of his boyfriends in a week, so sue him he was _allowed_ to do this,

 

“Hakyeon?” He whispers, interrupting the boy in front of him.

 

“Yeah?” Hakyeon licks his lips nervously.

 

Sanghyuk smiles fondly, “Shut up,” he closes the small distance between them, eyes fluttering shut.

 

Before he knows it he’s being pushed into the wall, Hakyeon’s lips never leaving his, he whimpers a little, and the noise must have stirred something, because suddenly he could feel someone nibbling on his jawline while someone else sucked on Sanghyuk’s neck. Two others had claimed Hyuk’s earlobes, biting and sucking, and god he had missed this, missed them. He moans and whimpers into Hakyeon’s mouth, Hakyeon bites his lip and pushes his tongue into Hyuk’s mouth, and he feels like he’s on fire. He lets out a sigh, god he missed this so much.

 

_iKON_

Chanwoo doesn’t really know what to expect, they had been in the BTS living room when Jimin had yelled at them to use his room. So now here the were, in the shared room of Taehyung and Jimin, the hyungs had yet to say anything and Chanwoo hadn’t wanted to break the silence. He spots four empty tubs of massage ointments on the floor next to Jimin’s bed and one that was half empty, he snorts and fishes out his phone to snap a picture, suddenly unaware of the rest of his hyungs staring at him,

 

“#exposed, aish, these hyungs, I can’t believe they tell me to practice less when they practice enough to empty a litre of massage ointment in a week, the hypocrites, Kyunnie-hyung would love this,” Chanwoo said to himself.

 

As if on cue Changkyun had silently slipped into the room. The members felt unreasonably exasperated, they really wanted to talk to Chanwoo, although the Monsta X hyungs probably felt the same way, they thought wryly.

 

“Kyunnie-hyung? Er-No offence but shouldn’t you be having a talk with your hyungs?” Chanwoo looks as confused as his hyungs feel.

 

“We were about to, and then I freaked out and told them I had to go to the bathroom and I left, and now I’m here,” Changkyun explained as though it was perfectly reasonable.

 

“...What is it with you and bathrooms?” Chanwoo blinked, Hanbin wonders how he decides to fix on that one thing.

 

“...You are aware that I didn’t actually go to the bathroom right? Like, I came here, and that is so not the point right now, I’m freaking out. Again.”

 

Chanwoo considers this for a moment, “Do you want to see something funny to calm you down so you can talk to your hyungs?”

 

Changkyun raises his eyebrows and Chanwoo slowly points at the empty tubs, Changkyun looks at it, blinks, then snorts, “Oh my god, the hypocrites!”

 

“I know right? Like they kept telling me to relax and stuff, but there they were overworking themselves too,” Chanwoo shakes his head.

 

“Well to be fair, you were insane, I mean, you didn’t even go home, you slept for like two hours a day only because you collapsed in the studio by 4am, you skipped meals and yo-” Changkyun was listing on his fingers and Chanwoo blushes and cuts him off,

 

“Ok! I think we’re done here, you can go now! You’re obviously feeling better!”

 

Changkyun smirks, “You can’t just run away from an important conversation just because you don’t want to have it Channie-ah,” he frowns as he thinks about what he just said, “No wai-”

 

But the damage was done, “Oh really?” There was a mischievous glint in Chanwoo’s eyes.

 

“No Chanwoo! Don’t do it! I-” Changkyun waved his hands in front of him, panicking

 

Chanwoo opened the door and was tackled by Changkyun, “MONSTA X HYUNGS! CHANG-ACK-CHANGKYUN IS - GAH- HE’S - YAH GET OFF- HE’S WITH US!”

 

Hyunwoo and Jooheon appear in the hallway and gape at the scene before helping Changkyun up, they turn to leave and Changkyun shoots Chanwoo a mild glare, Chanwoo sticks out his tongue. They disappear and Chanwoo nods in apparent satisfaction,

 

“I have done my good deed for the day,” He dusts his hands and puts his palms on his hips, “I feel accomplished. I’m like Superman. Maybe Spider-Man.”

 

“Great, do you think we could talk now?” Chanwoo startles and Junhoe jabs Yunhyeong in his ribs.

 

“Oh right. Look - guys - we don’t really need to tal-” Chanwoo looks uncomfortable and Hanbin just knows that whatever it is that Chanwoo is thinking, it isn’t right, he wants to say something but he is interrupted by Jinhwan who gives up on all of them and just glomps Chanwoo.

 

Chanwoo yelps, stumbles, flails and then regains his balance and wraps his arms around Jinhwan’s waist to stabilize them both,

 

“Er-hyung?” Chanwoo looks oddly terrified and Bobby doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

 

“I’m never letting go of you,” Jinhwan declares with his face buried in the fabric of Chanwoo’s sweatshirt.

 

“Umm...right...er why is that?” Chanwoo contemplates the craziness of the entire day so far.

 

“I’m _so_ sorry Chanwoo-ah, I didn’t remember the conversation we had that Monday night, and I should have been helping you and making sure you got home each day, but I just let you burn yourself out!” True to his word, Jinhwan doesn’t release Chanwoo even when talking.

 

But Jinhwan’s professed guilt had struck Chanwoo, “What? No, that isn’t, what? This isn’t your fault! I mean, I was kind of mad at you about the messages you sent this afternoon, but, but my overworking isn’t your fault! Don’t tell me you’re blaming yourselves for _that_!”

 

Hanbin’s guilt only increases tenfold because they’re maknae really was too kind, “I told you to work on your dancing more. I told you to skip meals for extra vocal practice. I singled you out in every practice for no reason. I never told you about how much you’ve improved in your dance or your singing. I never protested when you said you’d stay back each night. I never noticed when you became so tired that you were on the verge of collapse at any moment. I never noticed that you stopped coming back to the dorm because you passed out in the studio. So yes, I do blame myself, because whatever it is you’re going to say Chanwoo-ah, it is my fault.”

 

Junhoe starts before Chanwoo can protest, “We all share the blame actually, none of us made it easy for you this entire time and we really hurt you, it wasn’t right, we should have seen something, you collapsed _every_ day!”

 

Chanwoo frowns, “You wouldn’t notice if I didn’t want you to,” the members move to protest but Chanwoo stops them, “No really, even my _parents_ don’t notice. I don’t know if you remember, but I was an actor before an idol, I broke my ankle once and had a burning fever at the same time, my parents only found out a week later.”

 

Jinhwan had released Chanwoo to look at him in shock, Bobby gaped at the, crazy, kid,

 

“You _what_?!” Donghyuk yelps.

 

Chanwoo shrugs sheepishly and rubs his neck, “I just, I don’t want to burden people with my problems, and I figured I needed to practice more anyway so I just, I just moved through it? I just, sometimes I wished-” Chanwoo shakes his head, “Anyway, you can forget about it, really, I’ll take better care of myself from now on, it’s fine.”

 

“Sometimes you wished what?” Bobby presses.

 

Chanwoo blushes, “It’s nothing really,” He waves it off.

 

“Chanwoo-ah…” There’s something in Jinhwan’s eyes, he doesn’t know what, but it makes Chanwoo look away, but spill all his feelings all at once.

 

“I just, I know it’s stupid, but I just wanted to, to know if I was actually improving? Like just a word to let me know that my practice was working? Just some en-” Chanwoo cuts himself, too embarrassed to say it out loud, but the members hear it anyway,

 

“Some encouragement,” Junhoe finishes.

 

“We’re so _sorry_ Chanwoo, your dancing has improved in leaps and _bounds_ ,” Hanbin declares.

 

“You really are a good singer you know, you would be in the company otherwise,” Bobby says.

 

“You work _so_ hard, sometimes I feel like I don’t practice enough,” Yunhyeong admits sheepishly.

 

“You worry a lot, and I’m sorry I never noticed and I’m sorry I never helped you,” Donghyuk’s face was filled with regret.

 

“You really are talented and I swear we’ll never let you forget it,” Jinhwan said fervently.

 

Before Chanwoo could react, they had all dragged Chanwoo into the middle of a group hug,

 

“We’re sorry Chanwoo-ah!” They chorused,

 

Chanwoo laughed in joy, “Ok, ok, I forgive you! Yah! Let me go!”

 

“Never!”

 

_GOT7_

All the members had piled into Hoseok and Jungkook’s room and Yugyeom shuffled closer to BamBam, slightly afraid of conversation that was going to take place. Jinyoung locked the door and they long enough for Yugyeom’s attention to wander, meaning five seconds, and he suddenly pounced on something on a desk,

 

“Yah! That idiot had it on his desk the whole time! I’m gonna kill him, I turned my closet upside down for this!” Yugyeom yelled incredulously, holding a blue beanie in his hand.

 

BamBam snorts, “Ok first of all, your closet is always a mess, and second of all, Kookie hasn’t even been in his room for a week how would he have seen it?”

 

Yugyeom pouted, “Betrayal and slander! I am hurt! Hurt I tell you, never have I felt such pain!”

 

“Liar,” BamBam grinned, “Besides, you looovvvveee me!”

 

Yugyeom sticks out his tongue while shoving the beanie in his bag, “I’m still going to yell at him, hmm, I wonder if other things of mine are still in here…”

 

“Woah ok, before we turn Jungkook’s room upside down, we really did want to talk to you.” Jackson jumped in just as Yugyeom moved to grab Jungkook’s blankets.

 

Yugyeom jumped and smiled guiltily, “Er-right, just, if this about dinner then-”

 

“MONSTA X HYUNGS! CHANG-ACK-CHANGKYUN IS - GAH- HE’S - YAH GET OFF- HE’S WITH US!” Chanwoo’s voice echoed through the dorm and Yugyeom’s hyungs raised their eyebrows.

 

BamBam chuckled, “Kyunnie-hyung must have tried to escape.”

 

“No kidding, oh my gosh, what did he do to Channie for him to give up Kyunnie-hyung like that?” Yugyeom laughed.

 

“Sorry not sorry, is it too much if I yell _have fun_ to him?” BamBam asked

 

“Yes. He would never forgive you,” Yugyeom said seriously lips twitching.

 

BamBam considers this, “But he’s funny, I like him, fine I won’t do it.”

 

Youngjae coughs discreetly causing both of them to jump this time.

 

“Right, I was saying, if this is about dinner, I really didn’t to be so rude, I am sorry, I- ow-ow-Bammie stahp-gah” BamBam started viciously assaulting Yugyeom’s shoulder as he tried to apologize.

 

“Then stop apologizing for things you shouldn’t apologize for,” BamBam huffs, he was surrounded by idiots, he turned to the hyungs, “You are _not_ letting him apologize for this!”

 

“Of course not!” Jinyoung sounded so scandalized at the prospect, he promptly looked at Yugyeom, “Don’t apologize!”

 

Yugyeom blinked, “I’m confused, I’m pretty sure that I literally disrespected all you for no reason at all during dinner, which I also stormed out of for no rea-oh my god Bammie, ah seriously!”

 

BamBam glares at Yugyeom, “Then stop saying stupid things.”

 

Yugyeom throws his hands up in exasperation, “And what exactly should I be saying now?”

 

“Nothing. We’re going to talk and you’re going to listen.” Jaebum started, “When you first joined the group, we were nervous, we didn’t know how to feel, but then we warmed up to you and we tried to figure you out. Somewhere along the line we had come to the conclusion that you didn’t want to be like the _maknae_ , that you didn’t like too much skinship and you didn’t want to be coddled, but whether or not that was true, it still didn’t excuse our behaviour, it didn’t excuse us taking our frustrations out on you, because you never did anything wrong. You were the best makane and you just took all our complaining without any protests even though you really should have, you listened to everything we wanted, but we’ve never asked you about how _you_ felt.”

 

“So now, we’re asking, what do you need Gyeomie?” Mark stepped forward, his stance soft.

 

BamBam gave Yugyeom an encouraging nod and Yugyeom took a deep breath, “I-I- maybe, it just, you don’t _have_ to, but, it would you could be less...sharp sometimes? I really am trying and it’s just a little hard when you...yeah. And maybe… just… If you could-” Yugyeom stuttered, he couldn’t say it, not even now.

 

“Yugyeomie...do you want us to take care of you? Do you- would it be ok for us to coddle you? Like we do for Bammie?” Youngjae tried.

 

BamBam notices Yugyeom’s begin to shake and he immediately, goes to his side, “Hey, baby, hey, look at me, you can take your time ok? The hyungs really do care about you ok sugar? Shh,”

 

BamBam brings Yugyeom into his arms and brings them over to sit on Jungkooks bed, Yugyeom is practically on BamBam’s lap, his hands are clutching at BamBam’s shirt and his face is hidden in Bam’s chest. BamBam rocks him back and forth, pressing kisses onto his head,

 

“Shh, it’s ok sweetheart, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to ok? Just take your time, we all love you _so much_ ok honey?” BamBam whispers soft reassurances to Yugyeom while using nearly every sweet pet name in existence.

 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Jinyoung murmurs, his heart breaking, they did this.

 

They slowly approach the bed, “Can we hug you now Gyeomie?”

There was a painful pause, Yugyeom nods into BamBam’s shirt and they all wrap themselves around the two youngest.

 

“We’re so sorry Gyeomie, can you ever forgive us?” Jackson whispers.

 

“...I forgive you hyungs.”

 

_Monsta X_

The group had assembled in the kitchen, they had barely been still when Changkyun blurted he had to use the bathroom and fled leaving them gaping after him.

 

“I suppose we deserved that,” Wonho kicks the floor.

 

“Do you think he’s actually using the bathroom?” Minhyuk asks.

 

“We’re not _following_ him,” Kihyun snapped.

 

“Right, we’ll give him five minutes,” Hyunwoo reasoned.

 

Jooheon and Hyungwon shared skeptical looks.

 

Meanwhile, Changkyun fled, not to the bathroom, but instead to the room with Chanwoo, he could feel himself getting stressed and knew Chanwoo was probably the one person who understood him the best. So he slips into room promptly ignoring the rest of iKON.

 

“Kyunnie-hyung? Er-No offence but shouldn’t you be having a talk with your hyungs?” Chanwoo looks bewildered and Changkyun supposes that he should explain.

 

“We were about to, and then I freaked out and told them I had to go to the bathroom and I left, and now I’m here,”

 

“...What is it with you and bathrooms?” Chanwoo blinked.

 

“...You are aware that I didn’t actually go to the bathroom right? Like, I came here, and that is so not the point right now, I’m freaking out. Again.” Aish, this kid, who knew what went on in his head.

 

“Do you want to see something funny to calm you down so you can talk to your hyungs?” Chanwoo’s suggestion intrigues him.

 

Changkyun raises his eyebrows and Chanwoo slowly points somewhere in the room.

 

Changkyun looks follows the line of sight, he notices four empty tubs that he recognizes for muscle aches, he understand suddenly and then snorts, “Oh my god, the hypocrites!”

 

“I know right? Like they kept telling me to relax and stuff, but there they were overworking themselves too,” Chanwoo shakes his head.

 

“Well to be fair, you were insane, I mean, you didn’t even go home, you slept for like two hours a day only because you collapsed in the studio by 4am, you skipped meals and yo-” Changkyun was listing on his fingers teasing the kid except he was kind of serious, Chanwoo blushes and cuts him off,

 

“Ok! I think we’re done here, you can go now! You’re obviously feeling better!”

 

Changkyun smirks, “You can’t just run away from an important conversation just because you don’t want to have it Channie-ah,” he frowns as he thinks about what he just said, “No wai-”

 

But the damage was done, “Oh really?” There was a mischievous glint in Chanwoo’s eyes.

 

“No Chanwoo! Don’t do it! I-” Changkyun waved his hands in front of him, panicking

 

Chanwoo opened the door and Changkyun promptly tackled him, “MONSTA X HYUNGS! CHANG-ACK-CHANGKYUN IS - GAH- HE’S - YAH GET OFF- HE’S WITH US!”

 

Hyunwoo and Jooheon appear in the hallway and gape at the scene before helping Changkyun up, Changkyun feels uncomfortable as they turn to leave and he shoots Chanwoo a mild glare, who in return sticks out his tongue. Changkyun winces as he is led back to the kitchen.

 

“We know you have no reason to listen to us but we really do need to have this talk,” That Hyunwoo.

 

Changkyun purses his lips, “If Gunhee is forcing you to do this or something, you really don’t have to worry, I’ll just tell him we had this discussion or whatever, you really don’t need t-”

 

“No! This doesn’t have anything to do with Gunhee! I mean it does, but not like that!” Hyungwon looked frustrated.

 

“Gunhee didn’t tell us what to do, but he did open our eyes,” Hoseok said quietly.

 

“For months, even after our debut, we have been punishing you for something out of your control, but you never once complained and you took it in stride except we made you feel guilty about winning No. Mercy even when you shouldn’t have to. Our behaviour pushed you out of your own dorm, pushed you to practice even more because we made you feel lacking even though when we practice you tend to outshine our performance. “ Jooheon took a deep breath, he was getting worked up.

 

“We hurt you so much, but the worst part is that we made you think it was your fault when it wasn’t. You were in a tough situation and we never should have taken out our anger on you insead of talking this out like adults,” Minhyuk looked so disappointed in himself that Changkyun had to say something,

 

“Really hyungs, it’s ok, don’t worry about it, I understand, and I _am_ sorry fo-” Changkyun was cut off by Kihyun,

 

“You’re not supposed to forgive people before they even apologize! And you can’t apologize while we’re trying to apologize! What are you even trying to apologize for? Your _existence_?!”

 

“Er-well, just, you know, every….thing…? You know, that I did? Beca-” Changyun doesn’t really know where he was going with this apology anymore.

 

“Oh my god someone stop him, he really is trying to apologize for existing, oh my god Changkyun! We’re trying to apologize _to you_!” Hyungwon doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry.

 

“So we’re apologizing, for everything we did to you this entire time, and, if you still want to, we really want you back in the dorm with, we promise we’ll make it up to you Changkyun, can you ever forgive us?” Hyunwoo pleaded.

 

“”Of course!” Changkyun blinked almost in outrage.

 

Yeah, this kid was too nice for his own good.

 

_BTS_

The maknae line took notice at once that the hyungs had split all the groups into different room, and they didn’t use Jimin and Taehyung’s room because they never received their permission. Rather than worry about the impending talk they focused on the logistics of what was happening,

 

“If Monsta X is in the kitchen, it’s way too close to the living room, neither group will have a private conversation,” Jungkook told Taehyung, behind the maknae line, the hyungs found themselves wondering why the maknae line immediately started taking the responsibility of the set up onto themselves.

 

“Chanwoo and the rest of iKON can probably go to our room, I think Changkyun might feel better in a kitchen, and the kitchen is a little more private than the living room,” Taehyung suggested.

 

“Right,” Jimin poked his head back in to the living room from the hallway, “Yah, Chanwoo-ah, bring your group to my room, talk in there!”

Satisfied, Jimin turned back to the others and jogged back to where they were standing at the door of Namjoon, Seokjin and Yoongi’s room and they entered quietly. As soon as the door closed, the maknae line were met by a series of apologies all overlapping each other in varying states of hysteria. Jin looked like someone had murdered a puppy and Hoseok had rushed over to them and clung on to the nearest person, Jungkook, like a koala, Yoongi was arguably pouting in disappointment and Namjoon, Namjoon didn’t know what to do with himself clearly, and somewhere in the chaos, the God of Destruction successfully managed to send half the contents of his desk flying onto the floor.

 

“Woah, ok! Wait, Hobi-hyung you gotta let go of me,” Jungkook put Hoseok down on the bed before pulling a now crying Seokjin next to him.

 

Jungkook let Hoseok cuddle him and he started to comfort Seokjin in an effort to make him stop crying. Jimin had grabbed Namjoon and Yoongi away from the desk and sat them down on the other bed, trying to stop the spew of apologies. Taehyung had starts to pick up the dropped items and somehow this entire thing has turned into the maknae line once again taking care of their hyungs and it really wasn’t supposed to be going like this,

 

“No, stop, it wasn’t supposed to be like this!” Yoongi says in frustration.

 

Jimin just rubs Yoongi’s shoulder, “What was supposed to happen hyung?”

 

And wow does he sound like a parent, Seokjin vaguely realizes that this has been the tone of the entire maknae line this entire week when they had been patiently taking care of their hyungs, a thought that send him into another wave of tears, next to him Jungkook panics,

 

“Ok, ok, no wait, Tae-Tae hyunggiiiee help, you’re better at this than me,”  Jungkook shoots Taehyung a panicked glance, “No, oh my god, drop the things, I’ll take care of the mess, oh my god just help me!”

 

Taehyung crossed over and switched places with Jungkook, Seokjin’s tears were slowing down and Hoseok sat up to observe as Jungkook immediately went to clear the mess. Jimin was looking over too as Yoongi and Namjoon had become quiet in this strange turn of events.

 

“Wait Kookie-ah stop!” Jimin rose from the bed having spotted something, “Here go to the bed, I’ll take care of this, I think there’s some broken glass.”

 

“What?” Jungkook frowned and leaned closer to the mess

 

“Yah! Don’t get _near_ it you fool! Aish, just go, I’ll get it.”

 

Jungkook frowned but nodded, but Namjoon had already gotten up to pull Jimin away from the mess as well, they all froze as Chanwoo’s voice reverberated through the dorm,

“MONSTA X HYUNGS! CHANG-ACK-CHANGKYUN IS - GAH- HE’S - YAH GET OFF- HE’S WITH US!”

 

“Oh my god, that crazy kid must have tried to avoid the conversation,” Taehyung laughs.

 

“Sounds like Chanwoo is getting pummeled for his betrayal though,” Jungkook snorts.

 

“Our friends are crazy- oh my god Jungkook, stop going near the glass!” Jimin scolds.

 

“Right, if there’s broken glass I don’t want you near it either,” Namjoon frowned, “I’ll get it.”

 

“Umm, no offence hyung, but considering you knocked half of this stuff down, which I still don’t understand, you probably shouldn’t come near this either,” Jimin smiled sheepishly.

 

Namjoon frowned, clearly unhappy with the fact that maknaes were still taking care of their hyungs even after everything that had happened, but Yoongi cut him off,

 

“Ok they have a point, but you really should let one of us hyungs do it, we’re older here, we should clean the messes we make.”

 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it, it isn’t a lot, we can do it, you don’t have to-” Jungkook gets interrupted,

 

“Do more work?” Hoseok smiles sadly, “That’s what you’ve been doing this entire time, hasn’t it? You did all our work for us and fixed our messes so we would have less work to do. You did it at the expense of your own well-beings and we took for granted and hurt you more.”

 

Taehyung shifted uncomfortably where he was sitting next to Hoseok, “You can’t say it like that!” he protests.

 

“And how should we say it? Isn’t that what happened, we never noticed any of your issues, didn’t know about the pain and exhaustion and struggles you were having!” Yoongi argues.

 

“If this about what we said at dinner…” Jimin started, clearly heading to wave off the matter entirely.

 

“No, don’t say it didn’t mean anything, it did, and Taehyung did the right thing. We had absolutely no _right_ to tell you to go on a diet because not only are you a beautiful angel who doesn’t need to diet, we also should have been more aware of your struggles with eating. We never should have made you skip meals and asking you diet was cruel and unnecessary on our parts. We should have noticed when the three of you started coming back after 3am, but instead we were to be busy asleep instead of waiting for you-” Jin’s speech is cut off,

 

“Now wait a minute, you can’t apologize for _sleeping_ , we never expected you to lose sleep because of us! We were only upset about you saying hurtful things!” Taehyung yelps indignantly.

 

“You three had worked more than any of has had during each day and you still practiced later and came back later, the least we could have done is make sure you reached home,” Namjoon reasoned.

 

“We come in at almost 3am, of course you should be asleep!” Jimin looked frustrated at the whole situation.

 

“Why should _we_ be asleep when you weren’t?” Yoongi raises his eyebrows.

 

Jungkook frowns, “It’s too late, and we needed the practice, you had a lot of work to do, more than us, of course you should be asleep.”

 

“But you were probably more exhausted than any of us, you did all our work for us and practiced more and we don’t even know how you get home or when you go to sleep,” Hoseok argues.

 

“We leave at around 2 to walk,” The three chorused almost on instinct.

 

“You _walked_ back? At _2am_?!” Namjoon looks horrified.

 

“Yeah, that’s why we always got back around 3am, it shouldn’t take that long, but boy is it killer on the legs,” Taehyung snorted, unaware of the looks he was getting from the hyungs.

 

“Yah! Jimin-hyung, why couldn’t you have stolen a car then? Aish this hyung,” Jungkook shook his head in mock disappointment.

 

“Yah! I only borrowed it, I already put it back, stop teasing me!” Jimin whined.

 

“And what time do you sleep?” Jin ignores the interaction.

 

“Umm, well, we get back at 3, we do some chores, then we massage our legs a bit and go to sleep at 4? 4:30? We have to wake up at 6 or 7am to make breakfast though, so we take shifts on who wakes up first,” Taehyung shrugs nonchalantly.

 

“Well, we normally do that anyway, remember Wednesday night?” Jungkook snorts.

 

“Oh yeah, yeah, that was bad, Thursday was insane because of that,” Jimin shakes his head.

 

“What happened?” Hoseok questions, slightly afraid.

 

“Oh well we _tried_ to leave earlier yeah? So we left at like 12:30-ish, and we were like, yeah we’ll get home by 1am, and then we can eat and sleep a little longer,” Taehyung rolls his eyes.

 

“And like, we did get home right? And we did some chores, cleaned up a bit around and it was 2am and were _going_ to go to sleep but then! We had an idea! We _thought_ it was a good one,” Jungkook grimaces.

 

“So we thought, since we’re back, what if just cook breakfast and dinner for tomorrow right then so that we didn’t have to wake up earlier. So we went to the kitchen. To cook. At 2am.” Jimin looks at the ceiling in exasperation.

 

“We were young fools.” Taehyung says solemnly, “We started to cook and the next thing you know we almost drop a frying pan, we actually drop an egg, and a cup shattered, so after Jimin cleaned up, we finally finished cooking at 5am.”

 

“And that isn’t even the worst part, because we were so tired that we ate extra sugar and had too much coffee to keep us awake, which is a nightmare solution, honestly, our brains were so muddled,” Jungkook scoffs.

 

“Yeah, we almost turned on the wrong street when we were walking back and then we had an existential crisis at 4am when we tried to sleep, it was awful,” Jimin shudders.

 

“10/10 do not recommend,” they chorused.

 

“See this?! This is what we mean! You can’t just _do_ things like that! You sleep so little and you work so hard! Oh my god we’re terrible hyungs!” Hoseok shrieks.

 

“We’re so sorry! To all of you! I swear, we’ll never be so _mean_ to you again and we’ll take care of you properly, you should sleep on time and eat properly and work less, and god can you ever forgive us?” Jin looks almost hysterical

 

“Of course we do hyung! And we promise, if you really want us to, we’ll try to work less!

 

_All together again_

Once the discussions were over, all five groups had drifted into the living room. No-one else had noticed, but the maknaes immediately saw that Sanghyuk had fixed his make up and they shot him knowing smirks, Hyuk flushes,

 

“No, stop, not a word from any of you,” He points his finger threateningly

 

The maknaes raise their hands in surrender but let out a few giggles.

 

“I mean-” Changkyun grins wolfishly

“UHP, NOPE, STOP!” Hyuk glares at him

 

“Ok, ok, so are you good now?” Changkyun relents

 

“Ecstatic,” Hyuk grumbles.

 

“Are you sure, because I feel like happiness looks like him,” Jungkook points at Yugyeom who is beaming and crushing Chanwoo in a side hug.

 

“Yah, Yugy, I don’t think the poor boy can breathe,” Bambam grins.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m just so happy!” Yugyeom let go of Chanwoo only to grab onto Taehyung instead.

 

“Whew, I can breathe,” Chanwoo sighs

 

“You get so affectionate when you’re happy, I swear, you’re probably an affectionate drunk,” Taehyung snorts.

 

“Bold of you to assume I’m happy when I drink,” Yugyeom stuck out his tongue.

 

“Big mood,” the maknaes chorused.

 

Jimin catches sight of the strange looks on their hyungs’ faces, “Don’t worry, we’re just joking around, we haven’t drank in, what?”

 

“A month, we drank last month, remember that night?” BamBam laughs

 

“What happened?” Jaebum risks asking.

 

The maknaes shared a look, “Well we were taking out Chanwoo, because he’s 18 and we were introducing him and stuff and then you know, we were talking, yup that’s it.”

  
The hyungs swapped looks of weary exasperation and in that moment they knew that they would contacting each other a _lot_ to deal with these crazy kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I meant to publish this yesterday, but I fell asleep at my laptop before I could, I don't even remember closing my eyes, whoops. In my defense it was like 2am again anyway so yeah. Anyway, based on the comments I've decided to do the 13 chapters, I'll try to make daily updates, and I'll see how much I can finish today, but it is kind of a busy time, so I'm not making any promises other than I will definitely do my best to work on this. I'm also going to try and have a healthier sleeping schedule from tomorrow on because I still only got 4 hours of sleep last night and the lack of sleep is probably why I can't be as productive as I want to be. Anyway, take care of yourselves, I'll post soon/when I can <3


	9. (VIXX) Sanghyuk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyuk knows in his head that his hyungs love him, but he can’t help the left over fear in his mind that his hyungs might leave him at any moment. So Hyuk tries to be the perfect boyfriend and member, he practices hard and bites his tongue, afraid to say the wrong thing.

Hakyeon observes Sanghyuk with an air of regret, despite Sanghyuk forgiving them, he knows that they really had affected the younger boy and it would take some time for him to fully recover from what they had done to him. It shows in the little things, Sanghyuk is overly critical on his performances, he throws himself into practices and never complains about anything anymore. Doesn’t complain when the schedules change and become tighter, not when he has to skip meals, not when he has to wake up at unreasonably early hours, not when he ends up being the last one to shower. Little things like how Sanghyuk can’t seem to bring himself to speak his mind, he doesn’t ask for affection like he used to, doesn’t engage in play fights for the TV remote, doesn’t ask for more food, doesn’t argue to shower first. 

 

It hurts, but they know they have to just show him that through their actions that they really meant their apology. So they do what they can to shower him with love even if he doesn’t say it aloud. They try to read the signs as best they can to give him what he really needs. Try to show him that they aren’t going anywhere. What a cruel twist of events this was, they were the ones who had been afraid of Sanghyuk leaving  _ them _ and now they had hurt the boy so bad that he was afraid of them leaving him. As if they could. 

 

They were now in dance practice and Sanghyuk had just had a particularly hard fall, Ravi thought he saw Sanghyuk land on his arm awkwardly, but Hyuk had gotten up so quickly it was hard to tell. To his credit, Hyuk didn’t show any sign of pain, they all shot him a worried look anyway,

 

“Are you ok?” Hongbin hovered hesitantly next to Sanghyuk.

 

“I’m ok, just tripped, we can start again, sorry about that,” Sanghyuk shot them a smile.

 

“Don’t apologize,” Hakyeon and Ken scolded as they went back to position. 

 

Sanghyuk just laughed. They went through the dance once more and then they headed towards the dorm after grabbing their things. The members went to shower one by one and Hyuk insisted that they go first. Finally, when it was his turn, he goes into the bathroom and locks the door behind him. It was only then in the privacy of the bathroom that he allowed himself to look at his left hand. It had swollen up somewhat but it would easy enough hide it with a sweater, he was just glad it wasn’t his dominant hand. He would just sneak some ice from the kitchen later once everyone was asleep.

 

Two days went by and although the members hadn’t noticed anything strange, but it was getting harder Sanghyuk to hide his hand. He was sure now that he had sprained his wrist and the bruising wasn’t pretty. The ice had taken care of the swelling, but he didn’t know what else to do and they pain was starting to get on his nerves. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to ask his hyungs for help, he couldn’t help but imagine worst case scenarios, somewhere in the back of his head, he was aware that his fears were illogical, but he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want to burden his hyungs with more of his problems, not after everything they already had to put up with because of him. He didn’t want to be seen as weak for not even being to handle something like a sprained wrist, nor did he want to show just how much of a failure he was that he managed to sprain his wrist during dance practice.

 

So he continued to keep it to himself and he had barely managed to get through to make it through the third day, he nearly cried with relief when they had reached the dorm and for the first time since the tabloid incident, he had asked his hyungs if he could shower first. His hyungs, overjoyed by his apparent opening up, agreed at once worried that he might take it back and retreat into his shell once more. Hyuk didn’t notice any of this, the pain in his hand chasing out any of his capacity to observe his surroundings. He nearly ran into the bathroom and held back a yelp as he pulled back his sleeve. His wrist had swollen up again and his arm was an ugly mess of black and blue, he grimaced at the sight. He needed help, that much he knew, but who would he ask? After a bit of contemplation he decided to message the Maknae Chat.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**sannie:** [img.png]

**sannie:** so i may have sprained my wrist on mon nite

**sannie:** i didnt tell n e 1 but its killing me rn

**sannie:** wht do i do

**sannie:** i don wanna tll hyungs

**chimmie:** it’s thurs nite rn you fool

**teayungie:** smh chim also omg sannie ur arm looks terrible

**teayungie:** we’re cookin rn so kooks cant type

**chimmie:** he said try ice + ointment

**channie:** try some painkillers

**yugsie:** ^ careful about how u sleep

**bammie:** dont crush your arm

**kyunnie:** dont strain it 2 much

**sannie:** thx <3

**channie:** np i was just practicing anyway

**kookie:** @ this hr?

**channie:** new choreo’s out 2 get me #_# 

**channie:** xtra practice fr me #imded

**yugsie:** @kookie wht happened to cookin?

**kookie:** takin a break, tae just finished laundry so he took over

**sannie:** i thot jin-hyung does that?

**chimmie:** hyungs r busy so we helpin 

**kyunnie:** @channie dont overwork urself 

**channie:** *salutes*

**bammie:** @sannie why dont u wanna tll ur hyungs???

**yugsie:** yeh isnt tht easier????

**sannie:** it’s stupid but im 2 scared

**sannie:** like i dont wanna burden them 

**kookie:** u rite it is stupid

**chimmie:** smh they not gonna break up w/you cos u hurt ur arm

**kyunnie:** where is the logic???

**bammie:** ur thot process is insane

**channie:** who wuld brk up w/ someone cos they got injured???

**yugsie:** ur making me scared of relationship standards smh

**sannie:** stop bashing me :( ik it’s stupid ic help it

**sannie:** just dont tell them

**chimmie:** fine *silent disapproval*

**kookie:** fiinnee *agrees only cause ur my hyung*

**kyunnie:** ok *lowkey judging you*

**channie:** *reluctantly salutes in agreement*

**yugsie:** u makin it worse but ok 

**bammie:** u stupid but fine

**sannie:** the shade tho O.o

**sannie:** @tae??

**kookie:** cooking

**sannie:** hmm, fine, bye

 

Sanghyuk puts his phone into his pocket and pulls his sleeve back down to cover his arm, he washes his face, showers quickly and leaves the bathroom. His hyungs smile at him, he feels a pit in his stomach from keeping this from them, but he says,

 

“I’m a little tired so I’m just going to be in bed until dinner,” He smiles a little to ease their concern.

 

“Hmm, yeah, don’t worry we’ll come get you for dinner babe,” Ken smiles back at him.

 

Sanghyuk flees to his room, it’s thankfully empty, he quickly finds some pain and bruise ointment in his bedside table and applies it on his arm. He swallows a painkiller and settles in his bed, opening a game on his phone.

 

Across the hall in Hakyeon’s room, he received a message,

 

_ Unknown Number > Hakyeon _

**unknown:** is this Hakyeon-sunbaenim from VIXX?

**unknown:** this is Taehyung (V) from BTS btw

 

Hakyeon saved the number with some confusion

 

_ Taehyung bts > Hakyeon _

**Hakyeon:** ahh yes, this is Hakyeon, u can just call me hyung

**Hakyeon:** what can I help u with?

**Taehyung bts:** so sannie-hyung just sent us something in our groupchat

**Taehyung bts:** he told us not 2 tell any of u n im the only who didn’t promise

**Taehyung bts:** so we agreed that im the who would tell u cause u need 2 kno

**Taehyung bts:** [screenshot.png]

**Taehyung bts:** [screenshot(1).png]

**Taehyung bts:** [screenshot(2).png]

 

Hakyeon read the messages in the screenshot with a growing horror, his maknae sprained his wrist three days ago and he didn’t tell anybody, and nobody noticed. He didn’t even want to come for them to help because he was scared of being a burden, and judging from the picture, his arm was in a really bad shape. Somewhere in his mind something niggles about the other maknaes, he would re-read those messages later, but for now he had to find Sanghyuk. He got up and opened the door, running into Leo, 

 

“Ah hyung, I was just going to get you for dinner.”

 

Hakyeon shook his head, “Get the others to Hyukie’s room.”

 

Leo shot him a look of concern and confusion, but hollered for the others and they ran into the hallway as Hakyeon knocked on Hyuk’s door,

 

“Hyukie? I’m coming in,” He called while opening the door.

 

The group entered the room and they saw Sanghyuk sitting in his bed, hair ruffled and glasses on, his legs were wrapped in the covers and he held his phone with sweater paws watching a movie. The sweater paws would have been more adorable if Hakyeon didn’t know what was under them, he moved and sat down on the bed next to Sanghyuk, Hyuk straightened and out the phone down, slightly confused. Hakyeon brushed Hyuk’s hair out of his face and let his hand rest cupping Hyuk’s cheek with his thumb rubbing the younger’s cheekbone. Hyuk hummed, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch,

 

“You know that we love you so much right? And you can always tell us anything right?” Hakyeon asks, someone behind him makes a noise of confusion.

 

“Of course I do hyung,” Sanghyuk had opened his eyes in confusion.

 

“Then why didn’t you tell us about your hand?” Hakyeon had gently taken Hyuk’s left hand in his before Hyuk had noticed, he pushes back the sleeve slowly and is met with the gruesome sight that was worse than the picture.

 

“Oh my god,” Ravi whispers behind him.

 

“Hyukie! What?” Leo yelps in horror.

 

“How long have you…?” Hongbin chokes up

 

“How...when...what?” Ken’s voice shakes

 

Sanghyuk ignores them all, his eyes focus on Hakyeon, panicked but he doesn’t pull away, “How did you know?”

 

“Your friend Taehyung messaged, through a loophole or something,” Hakyeon’s smiles sadly

 

“Of course he did, I should have known, aish,” Hyuk shakes in exasperation.

 

“I’m glad he did. I just wish you felt comfortable enough to tell us yourself,” Hakyeon murmured.

 

Sanghyuk considers him for a moment and his gaze turns onto his other hyungs, he takes a breath, “I sprained my arm on Monday night. When I fell during dance practice,” his hyungs gasp and choke with the implication but he doesn’t stop, “I uh, I snuck to the kitchen after you went to be to get ice, I just covered it up with my sleeves, I thought it would get better, but it was really bad today, so I sent a picture to the group chat I have with the other maknaes, see if they had any tips. They suggested some things and I told them not to tell you, Taehyung was cooking so he didn’t promise, the sly fox, I just, I didn’t want be a burden hyungs,” Hyuk whispers the last part.

 

His hyungs surrounded him on the bed, 

 

“Hyukie no! You could never be a burden babe!” 

 

“We  _ want _ you to come to us when things happen sweetheart, good or bad.”

 

“Stop putting yourself down Hyukie, you mean so much to us, you need to  _ talk _ to us honey,”

 

“I know it’s hard, but you have to let us in sweets, I swear we will  _ always _ be there for you,”

 

“I know we really hurt you with everything that happened, but we need you to understand that we will  _ never _ leave you unless you  _ really  _ don’t want us, ok? Can you promise us to at least try to let us know how you feel?” 

 

Their gazes are so soft and understanding and Sanghyuk is  _ really _ tired of biting his tongue all the time, so he nods slowly, “Yeah, yeah, I will.”

 

Later when he is about to sleep, after they had taken care of his arm, he opens his chat,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**sannie:** @teayungie you sly fox i shud be mad @ all of u

**teayungie:** but u arent cos we’re rite

**kyunnie:** n u <3 us

**yugsie:** mwah

**chimmie:** so what did they do???

**bammie:** ^ spill the tea

**channie:** how sweet were they??

**kookie:** ^^ ;)

**sannie:** they told me that i’ll never be a burden and to come to them for anything

**sannie:** then they helped me w/ my hand n fed me dinner even though they didn’t have to

**chimmie:** *squeeee* my heart 

**teayungie:** omg you better thank me for this 

**kookie:** y r u d only 1 in a relationship here smh

**bammie:** my heart is fluttering on your behalf????

**yugsie:** thats??? so soft??? #jealous

**kyunnie:** happy for u but lowkey jealous smh

**channie:** ^ i want a bf 2 ;_;

**sannie:** i <3 u all n i can set u up if you wanted ;)

 

Sanghyuk laughs before going to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think that's the only other chapter for today. I have to rework my essays ;_;
> 
> other people who read my essay: wow that's really good compared to your last 15 drafts love your writing style  
> my mother: it's terrible and messy I want you to start from scratch  
> what I think: the deadline is on jan 1  
> what I say: yes mom  
> also my mom: why do you leave all these things so close to the deadline?!  
> what I think: I started like three months ago  
> what I say: ...I'm sorry I obviously have bad time management
> 
> smh someone save me
> 
> The good thing is I have the plot ready for all the next 5 chapters so I just need some time here and there to flesh it out into a proper chapter, enjoy <3


	10. (iKON) Chanwoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanwoo knows that his hyungs accept him, they’ve been showering him with praise and taking such good care of him, he made a lot of progress and he stopped overworking himself and spending his days in the studio, he eats more and everything seems to be improving. But they’ve just been given some three new dances and Chanwoo is frustrated with his performance.

Chanwoo was feeling great, after the whole confrontation had gone down, Chanwoo’s members had been careful to make sure that Chanwoo didn’t overwork himself again, he always came to the dorm with the members and he never skipped meals or lost any sleep. The new routine had done wonders for his health, the rest chasing away any residual exhaustion that he once lived with, he almost forgot what it felt like. Things were looking up, but it seemed like he counted his blessings too soon. iKON had three new dances to work on and Chanwoo couldn’t seem to make it work, and, well, old habits die hard.

 

He still went back to the dorms with the rest of his members, but instead of falling asleep, he would go to bathroom once everyone was asleep and practice the choreography in front of the mirror. He would also wake up by 5am to practice again. Just like that, Chanwoo was once again the last to sleep but the first to wake up. No-one else knew. It went on for a week, and the familiar feeling of exhaustion began to creep into Chanwoo, but he acted like nothing was wrong and the members were left in the dark. It was Thursday night, and for the first time since the incident, Chanwoo had asked his members if he could stay back, he promised he wasn’t tired and that he’d be home at 11pm latest. His members finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. He was about to restart the music once more when his phone pinged with a message,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**sannie:** [img.png]

**sannie:** so i may have sprained my wrist on mon nite

**sannie:** i didnt tell n e 1 but its killing me rn

**sannie:** wht do i do

**sannie:** i don wanna tll hyungs

**chimmie:** it’s thurs nite rn you fool

**teayungie:** smh chim also omg sannie ur arm looks terrible

**teayungie:** we’re cookin rn so kooks cant type

**chimmie:** he said try ice + ointment

**channie:** try some painkillers

**yugsie:** ^ careful about how u sleep

**bammie:** dont crush your arm

**kyunnie:** dont strain it 2 much

**sannie:** thx <3

**channie:** np i was just practicing anyway

**kookie:** @ this hr?

 

Chanwoo doesn’t think twice when replying, while he may hide his exhaustion from his members, he has never done so with the other maknaes,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**channie:** new choreo’s out 2 get me #_# 

**channie:** xtra practice fr me #imded

**yugsie:** @kookie wht happened to cookin?

**kookie:** takin a break, tae just finished laundry so he took over

**sannie:** i thot jin-hyung does that?

**chimmie:** hyungs r busy so we helpin 

**kyunnie:** @channie dont overwork urself 

**channie:** *salutes*

**bammie:** @sannie why dont u wanna tll ur hyungs???

**yugsie:** yeh isnt tht easier????

**sannie:** it’s stupid but im 2 scared

**sannie:** like i dont wanna burden them 

**kookie:** u rite it is stupid

**chimmie:** smh they not gonna break up w/you cos u hurt ur arm

**kyunnie:** where is the logic???

**bammie:** ur thot process is insane

**channie:** who wuld brk up w/ someone cos they got injured???

**yugsie:** ur making me scared of relationship standards smh

**sannie:** stop bashing me :( ik it’s stupid ic help it

**sannie:** just dont tell them

**chimmie:** fine *silent disapproval*

**kookie:** fiinnee *agrees only cause ur my hyung*

**kyunnie:** ok *lowkey judging you*

**channie:** *reluctantly salutes in agreement*

**yugsie:** u makin it worse but ok 

**bammie:** u stupid but fine

**sannie:** the shade tho O.o

**sannie:** @tae??

**kookie:** cooking

**sannie:** hmm, fine, bye

**sannie:** @teayungie you sly fox i shud be mad @ all of u

**teayungie:** but u arent cos we’re rite

**kyunnie:** n u <3 us

**yugsie:** mwah

**chimmie:** so what did they do???

**bammie:** ^ spill the tea

**channie:** how sweet were they??

**kookie:** ^^ ;)

**sannie:** they told me that i’ll never be a burden and to come to them for anything

**sannie:** then they helped me w/ my hand n fed me dinner even though they didn’t have to

**chimmie:** *squeeee* my heart 

**teayungie:** omg you better thank me for this 

**kookie:** y r u d only 1 in a relationship here smh

**bammie:** my heart is fluttering on your behalf????

**yugsie:** thats??? so soft??? #jealous

**kyunnie:** happy for u but lowkey jealous smh

**channie:** ^ i want a bf 2 ;_;

**sannie:** i <3 u all n i can set u up if you wanted ;)

 

Although Sannie-hyung left, the conversation went on for a little longer,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** does any1 kno where 2 buy cheap shoes???

**kyunnie:** mine are worn out n i dont have much $$ 

**yugsie:** smh what did u buy???

**kyunnie:** i accidentally knocked over a lady doing groceries so i paid for it all

**kyunnie:** and bought her xtra ramen to say sorry

**kookie:** cos nothing says sry like instant noodles

**chimmie:**  omg

**bammie:** smh

**channie:** how bad r ur shoes??

**kyunnie:** [img.png]

**channie:** 0.o they look as bad as i feel smh

**channie:** try this place: [location]

**channie:** why don’t u ask your hyungs tho???

**kyunnie:** id feel bad tho :( they already do so much fr me

**channie:** ….lame but ok

 

Chanwoo scoffs, he considers this message for a moment, he decides he should take a leaf out of Taehyung’s book and he snaps a screenshot of the conversation.

 

_ Chanwoo > Hyunwoo hyung _

**chanwoo:** is this Hyunwoo hyung from Monsta X?

**chanwoo:** this is Chanwoo from iKON >.<

**Hyunwoo hyung:** chanwoo hi! What’s up?

**chanwoo:** kyunnie-hyung’s being stupid so i’m exposing him

**chanwoo:** [screenshot.png]

**chanwoo:** idk y hyung still feels like this but if you hurt him we’ll hurt u 

**chanwoo:** n e ways i gtg gudnite

 

Chanwoo only feels slightly guilty for threatening the leader of Monsta X, but he feels particularly protective over Changkyun hyung given how much they had bonded over the past year, it’s why he had notified Gunhee about how Changkyun felt that Saturday night when everything finally came to head. Chanwoo looks at the time and sees that it was nearly 10:30, he quickly packs up and heads for the dorm.

 

Back in the dorm, Hanbin receives a message in the leaders’ chat, the chat was created shortly after that Saturday to help each other with their work but mostly because of their maknaes,

 

_ Oblivious w/ a hint of Ignorance _

**hyunwoo:** @hanbin ur maknae is terrifying 

**hyunwoo:**  he just let me kno that kyunnie was still guilty which we just had a talk about

**hyunwoo:** he also threatened me if i hurt him

**hanbin:** omg

**hyunwoo:** but there’s something else about the messages he sent in the gc u shud c

**hyunwoo:** [screenshot.png]

 

Hanbin frowns as he looks at the messages, he doesn’t know what he’s looking for at first, but that’s when he spots it,

 

_ “They look as bad as I feel”.... “As bad as I feel” _

 

Another message comes in,

 

_ Oblivious w/ a hint of Ignorance _

**hakyeon:** which reminds me

**hakyeon:** taehyung sent me a message earlier, sannie had sprained his arm but didn’t tell us

**hakyeon:** so taehyung sent a screenshot, im pretty sure something’s off w/ the other kids 2

**hakyeon:** [screenshot.png]

**hakyeon:** [screenshot1.png]

**hakyeon:** [screenshot2.png]

 

Hanbin zeroes in on Chanwoo’s messages,  _ “still practicing”, “new choreo’s out to get me”, “extra practice for me #imded”... “im dead…” _

 

Hanbin sends a quick thanks to group, and stands up. Then he sits down. This didn’t prove anything, and even if it did, he knew that confronting Chanwoo at point blank would do nothing. Their maknae was too good of an actor, they needed to catch him in the act to actually prove anything. So instead he sought out the other members quickly filling them in. The next day, during lunch, Jinhwan excused himself before sneaking back into the studio alone, he set up a hidden camera and a mic in the room before leaving back to the members.

 

They continued with practice for the rest of the day, the members quietly observing Chanwoo for any signs of exhaustion, but the kid was good, it was too hard to tell. Soon it was time to head back to the dorm and the members began to pack their things to leave. All but one, Chanwoo stood in the middle of the room and hesitantly asked Hanbin if he could stay back once more. Although they had expected this, the members still frowned, they agreed once more, slightly more willing only because of the plan they put in place. They filed out of the room but instead of going to lockers, they went into the room next door where they had set up the live feed from the camera. They immediately crowded the laptop and watched an unsuspecting Chanwoo.

 

Chanwoo, for his part, noticed nothing out of the ordinary, he was too tired to focus on little nuances or minute differences in the behaviors of his members. So he thought nothing of how they looked when they filed out of the room, nor of the direction they turned upon exiting. The door shuts behind Junhoe who exited last and Chanwoo stands still for a minute in the middle of the room taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he doesn’t drop his guard just yet, choosing to wait a moment under the pretense that he could handle the pressure he was putting his body under.

 

In the other room his members frown as they see Chanwoo take a deep breath, but otherwise appear alright. However, in the next second they saw Chanwoo slowly crouch down, squatting but not sitting, he shakes his wet hair and his voice crackles through the speaker, 

 

“Ahh, seriously, why is this so frustrating?” He shakes his head again before standing up and moving to turn on the music.

 

They watch in awe as Chanwoo proceeds to do the three dances in a row with barely a pause, it was the best performance they had ever seen and only an unbelievably keen eye, or ridiculously over critical mind, would catch a mistake. Finally the music comes to an end and Chanwoo holds the ending position, one beat goes by, then another, then Chanwoo drops to his knees groaning. They watch in horror as Chanwoo pants and eventually rolls onto his back and stays on the floor spread like a starfish. Chanwoo groans again,

 

“Why is it always better when the members leave? Not that this was  _ good _ , there’s still so much room for improvement, but still.” 

 

Hanbin gapes at Chanwoo’s self criticism, “What does he mean  _ not good _ , is he blind or stupid?!”

 

On screen Chanwoo continues, “Aish! I’m so tired, why am I such an idiot? I could have stuck with acting, I’m  _ good _ at acting, but  _ nooo _ I just  _ had  _ to be an idol. Good job Chanwoo, now look at you, messing up choreography and holding back a whole group of talented people with your useless self.” He pushes himself of the floor slowly and starts to move towards the music once more, but Hanbin’s seen enough.

 

He storms towards the practice room and throws open the door as the first beats begin, “Yah!”

 

Chanwoo startles and turns in confusion towards Hanbin, even more confused as the rest of the members join behind their leader, 

 

“Wha-What are you...I thought you left?” Chanwoo scratches his head not really understanding.

 

“The leaders of Monsta X and VIXX sent me a message, they received screenshots with messages concerning their maknaes from you and Taehyung, only they noticed something off so they sent it to us,” Hanbin starts

 

Chanwoo doesn’t notice the word  _ us _ , but he suddenly remembers the messages he had sent alluding to his exhaustion, he gulps.

 

“We figured that you were probably tiring yourself out again, but we weren’t sure because you really are too good at hiding it, so instead we decided to be sneakier, we set up a camera and mic in here, we’ve watching the feed since the moment we left this room,” Jinhwan pauses to let the statement sink in.

 

Chanwoo frowns at first, his mind too muddled to think straight, he draws in a sharp breath through his teeth as he realizes that his hyungs just saw and heard every bit of his practice just now, right down to him collapsing at the end of the songs. He doesn’t know what to think, do they think that he’s too weak to handle being an idol? Do they think his comment about acting was him being ungrateful towards his opportunity to be an idol? The fears in his head only get worse and it must show on his face, because his hyungs have caught him off guard and he has yet to fix a mask upon his face. 

 

Yunhyeong steps forward, “I don’t know how often we have to tell you this, be we will say it as many times as you need to hear it.  _ You are good enough Chanwoo-ah _ , you made this far because of your skills and you  _ will _ make it far, you are always improving and the amount of practice you put in as soon as a choreography comes out is unbelievable. From the first day that we received this choreography you put in so much effort and danced so well that it made us look like we hadn’t even tried,” 

 

It was true, their choreographer had pulled Hanbin aside to tell him that Chanwoo’s dancing was impressive and the others should probably work a little more, perhaps he should have told that to Chanwoo, so he does it now and Chanwoo’s eyes widen. 

 

“What? I-but, that can’t  _ be _ , I still need to work on it so much!”

 

“Chanwoo, the dance we just saw you do, was honestly  _ perfect _ , I don’t know what you see when you dance, but trust us, you were amazing,” Bobby puts as much emotion as he can in the words trying to convey his sincerity.

 

“You’re too critical of yourself, Chanwoo-ah, you worry too much, stop worrying and just  _ trust _ us, please?” Donghyuk pleads.

 

Chanwoo hesitates, then he nods slowly, he’s silent for a moment, then he says, “You should probably that I sneak into the bathroom after you all go to sleep and practice in there until 2am… and that I wake up at 5am to practice again,” his face is sheepish.

“...Of course you did, Junhoe, you’re sleeping with Chanwoo for the next week, do  _ not _ let go of him.”

 

“Yah! Wait a moment!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't have too much time today, but I also didn't want to leave you lovelies without an update so I'm sorry if this isn't that good >.< I worked my hiney off for my new essay, and I decided to give it a rest this afternoon, it was kind of frustrating because I really did mean to go to sleep early last night, but I ended up going to sleep at 1am because my mom had freaked me out so much about the deadline and I felt super guilty because I know she's tired too and she really wants the best for me :( So I ended up writing this chapter instead as a little break for myself :D I hope you like it, hopefully I'll be able to update again tomorrow, but I'm not too sure <3


	11. (GOT7) Yugyeom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yugyeom knows that his hyungs have no problem giving and receiving affection, but it’s hard to shake off the habits that developed over the past years. Baby steps allow him to ask for affection openly in front of the members but he only ever asks BamBam for hugs. The hyungs are aware that it might take time, but they probably should have told Yugyeom explicitly that he can find them no matter what.

The members of GOT7 knew that despite Yugyeom having accepted their apology, it would take time for Yugyeom to become truly comfortable with asking them for the things he needed. They understood it and they did what they could to subtly send a message that they would always be there for Yugyeom, willing to give him what he wanted. Yugyeom had become relaxed enough to ask for cuddles and hugs in front of the members, but the thing was, he only ever asked Bambam. It hurt, but they understood, after all they could work with baby steps. They didn’t confront him again, too afraid to scare him away and push him back into his shell, so they stayed silent and hoped their actions were enough. Besides, it was probably nothing compared to the hurt they had put Yugyeom through, Jinyoung realized.

 

He had gone to wake up the boys as usual, he opened the door to Bambam and Yugyeom’s room, he bent down and shook Bambam’s shoulder, whispering at him to wake up. The thai boy had hummed and rolled over. He did this every morning but he always came out of the room a few minutes after Jinyoung leaves so he wasn’t too worried. He stood up to go to Yugyeom when he noticed that the youngest was slowly sitting up, blinking slowly but not sparing a glance towards where Jinyoung was stood. His heart squeezes as he hears Yugyeom’s mumbled “I’m up hyung.” It was in that moment that he becomes aware that he never woken up the youngest in the way he had woken up his roomate, preferring instead to yell across the room at the boy. He swallows and makes a sound of affirmation before he pads over to the door and opens it, then he closes it, he turns back intending to go to Yugyeom when he hears the boy speak, it was clear that he thought Jinyoung had left. 

“Yah, wake up Bammie, honestly, hyung comes in here each morning, how is it you still can’t wake up because of him?” Yugyeom is throwing his legs over his bed, blinking blearily. 

 

Bambam groans on the other side, “Ugh... because I have you obviously, how is it  _ you  _ wake up as soon as he enters?”

 

”Because I’ve learned from my mistakes and would rather not miss breakfast,” Yugyeom says wryly while crossing over to BamBam’s bed, Jinyoung flinches, he’s messed up more than he ever realized. 

 

“Hmm... come here sweetheart, I’m cold and lonely...”

 

Yugyeom laughs at the other boy while getting under the covers, the thai boy throws his hand over the other on instinct and pulls the boy into his chest, their youngest hums in contentment as Bambam presses a kiss to his hair. They stay like that, wrapped in each other for a few moments until Yugyeom murmurs that they really should go, finally Bambam sits up, Yugyeom’s face pressing into his stomach instead, his eyes find Jinyoung’s and widen. He shakes his head at the thai boy and quietly leaves the room. He thinks about what he just saw and from that day he comes to the room each morning and goes to Yugyeom’s bed even if the other was already awake. He doesn’t know what he’s trying to prove, not in words anyway, but even so he hopes that their maknae understands him still. Sometimes he wonders though, wonders if he really understands how much they truly care for him, or if they had hurt him too much. 

 

Yugyeom knows that his hyungs are there for him, he does, he just worries sometimes and it’s a problem, he wonders whether it’s the right time, whether he’s being burdensome or annoying, at least he knew where he stands with Bammie. And he should know when it comes to his members, but it hasn’t caused any major problems yet and so he decided that it would be okay if he took it one step at a time, too afraid to ambush his hyungs, scared that they would decide that it wasn’t worth the trouble. So he starts slowly by asking Bammie for things that he had never asked in front of them before like hugs and cuddles. However a challenge eventually presents itself. Bambam had a private schedule that day, he had to leave a little early and wouldn’t be back until slightly before dinner time. The other members were still free however, and normally this wouldn’t be a problem. Bambam was woken up by Jinyoung who watches with slight amusement as the boy sleepily pads over to Yugyeom and proceeds to press sloppy kisses all over his face and on his head, 

 

“I’ll be home by dinner ok baby? The hyungs will be here all do so ask them if you need anything ok honey? Promise?” Bambam asks, and not for the first time Jinyoung wonders if they really weren’t dating. 

 

“I promise, Bammie,” the boy murmurs half asleep. 

 

Just like that Yugyeom is left alone in the room to sleep in a little more. But his mind is in overdrive. As soon as Bambam came over, he knew at once it was one of his ‘affection days’.  These days meant that Yugyeom felt extra affectionate and prefered to leech onto someone regardless of whether he was happy or sad, ignoring it for too long, he had found out, left him with an itchy and empty feeling inside him. Usually he would wait these days out with Bambam, squeezing the life out of the other boy when he could, only he couldn’t do that now. He groans and tries to go back to sleep while hugging his stuffed toy. 

 

Eventually he wakes up for breakfast which he scarfs down as quickly as he could, he claimed tiredness and excused himself into his room, his hyungs didn’t think too much of it, too relieved to have a day off. So Yugyeom shuts himself in his room with his headphones on, he cuddles with the largest, plushiest toy he can find and becomes a burrito in the blankets. He tries to distract himself and to ward of the feeling of needing a hug. It was just before lunch time that he goes around to see what the others were up to, trying to decide if he could risk asking for a short cuddle. 

 

He finds Jackson and Mark playing some game with their friends. He spots Jinyoung and Youngjae enjoying some quiet time with a book and Jaebum working on his music. He can’t disturb Mark or Jackson, they never had enough time to spend with their friends and he couldn’t possibly interrupt them now. He can’t disturb Jinyoung or Youngjae, they were enjoying some private, quiet time and he would only be a nuisance to them. And he can’t go to Jaebum, not when he was working on his music, then he would definitely be a nuisance. So he eats lunch by himself when nobody else shows up and goes back to his room trying not to feel too disappointed. He messages the group chat, careful about what he says in case Bammie read them. 

 

_ Maknaes United _

**yugsie:** im booorrred

**sannie:** wheres @bammie

**yugsie:** @ private schedule

**kyunnie:** im @ practice :(

**kookie:** come online n play w/ me, chimmie hyung and tae-tae hyung

**channie:** oohh can i join??

**chimmie:** sure we hv to go 2 mke dinner @5-6ish tho

**teayungie:** when does bammie get back?

**yugsie:** around 6

**channie:** i can stay till then (^.^) i have dinner @6

**sannie:** ahh have fun u guys i still have to rest my arm -_-

**chimmie:** that’s probs ur fault smh

**sannie:** dont @ me

 

Yugyeom laughs and sets up his laptop quickly logging on, he spends the next three hours online with his friends, who never really questioned his need to spend time with them, willing to wait until BamBam came home. He has never explicitly mentioned it to them, but he thinks that they are aware of the nature of his ‘affection days’. Either way, he feels a rush of warmth and gratitude to these friends. It was approaching 6pm when Jaebum entered his room,

 

“Yugyeom?” Jaebum raised his eyebrows.

 

Yugyeom startles and looks up from the game, “Ah hyung! Yes?”

 

“I was just going to let you know that we’re going to have dinner together in 30 minutes,” Jaebum smiled warmly.

 

“Ah ok, thanks hyung,” Yugyeom nods his head.

 

“Did you eat lunch?” Jaebum asks concerned as he realizes that no-one had eaten together.

 

“Ah yes hyung, I had so- ah seriously, oof I died, whoops sorry Channie-ah,” Jaebum shakes his head as Yugyeom loses focus, “Ah, you have to go soon too right? Yeah, there’s no way we’re salvaging this, you can go if you want, I probably should too. You need to eat as much as possible. Yah! Listen to your hyung you brat, the disrespect, aish, kids these days,” Yugyeom shakes his head and Jaebum lets out an amused laugh.

 

Yugyeom looks up at him again, “Ah sorry about that hyung, I’ll come join you soon!”

 

“Yes ok, have fun,”Jaebum laughs and leaves the room. 

 

Inside the room, Yugyeom closes his laptop after saying bye to Chanwoo. He sighs and leans his head back, hugging his pillow, wishing Bambam would come home quicker. A few minutes later, he hears the front door open and Bambam’s voice as he greets the other members waiting in the living room. He tosses his pillow aside and stumbles out of his bed he throws open his door and dashes towards the living room.

Jaebum closes the door behind Bambam as he enters, Bambam says greets the other members who have spread out around the living room, assembling some time before dinner. Bambam sits down on the empty loveseat when Yugyeom speeds through from out of nowhere and crashes into BamBam’s side, his arms go around Bambam’s waist and his head tucks under Bam’s chin. 

 

“Bammie! I love yooouuuu!” Yugyeom declares

 

Bambam laughs, “Of course you do, why are you so excited, I thought you were bored?”

 

“I was bored, then I played with some of the other maknaes and then I was almost bored again, but you came back, and why won’t you just love me?” Yugyeom pulls his head away and pouts.

 

The members don’t know how to feel, they love that Yugyeom feels comfortable enough to this in front of them, but at the same time, a small part of them can’t help wishing they were in Bambam’s position. 

 

“Alright, alright, you know I love,” Bambam laughs and kisses Yugyeom on his head while bringing him back into his arms.

 

Yugyeom hums, content, and snuggles into Bambam, his arms tightening as he finally gets the contact he has been craving this whole day,

 

“You really are feeling super affectionate today aren’t you? Are you that happy with how you played?” Bambam chuckles

 

“Nah I lost,” Yugyeom’s voice is muffled in BamBam’s shirt.

 

BamBam frowns, “Wait, is today...are you… is this one of your ‘affection days’?” 

 

The members look at each other in confusion as Yugyeom hesitates to answer.

 

“Oh my god, it is isn’t it? And you didn't go to any of the members did you? Aish Gyeomie, why didn’t you say something?” Bambam sounds exasperated.

 

“They were all busy, I couldn’t disturb them!” Yugyeom whines

 

Bambam shoots a glare at the members who raise their hands in surrender and shaking their heads, they weren’t particularly busy the whole day, Yugyeom continues to explain,

 

“Jackson-hyung and Mark-hyung were playing a game with their friends and I didn’t want to disturb them because they don’t have a lot of free time, Jinyoung-hyung and Youngjae-hyung were enjoying some quiet time with a book and it would be annoying if I just showed up and Jaebummie-hyung was working on his music and I can’t disturb him then!”

 

The members look stricken, despite all their efforts to make sure that Yugyeom knew he could approach his members at any time, they had still managed to push him away, push him away from asking what, they didn’t know, but they still did it anyway.

 

BamBam’s eyes softened, “Oh honey, you could have still asked them, I’m sure they would have liked to spend some time with you, right hyungs?”

 

“Of course,” the other five yelped utterly scandalized.

 

Yugyeom peeks his head out to peer at his hyungs, what he saw must have reassured him because he sat up a little and turned to face them,

 

“Sometimes I have this thing I call an ‘affection day’,” he starts abruptly, “basically I just really like...contact I guess? It doesn’t matter if I’m happy or sad, I just really need to hold someone or be held I guess, and I… I get really  _ lonely _ when I don’t...Normally I just- well I-I spend those days with Bammie, but he wasn’t here and I was kind of...worried? To ask you? It’s not your fault!” He rushes to explain at the look on their faces, “I just, I know in my head that you wouldn’t  _ hate _ me or something, but I just feel bad, for being...too burdensome? Ow-yah-Bammie-what has my arm ever done to you? You keep doing this!”

 

“You keep being stupid, that’s your fault,” Bambam shrugged unapologetically.

 

“He’s right,” Jackson agreed

 

Yugyeom scowled, “Wow, feeling the love.”

 

“And you should be, Gyeomie, we really do care about you, and you could never be a burden to us, we  _ want _ you to come to us when you need it, ok?” Jinyoung reaches over to squeeze his hand.

 

“I know it’s hard to get over your fears, but please just try to come to us, even if you worried, which you don’t need to be,” Youngjae shoots Yugyeom a supportive smile.

 

“We’ll do our best to read your signals too ok?” Jaebum ruffles Yugyeom’s hair.

 

“So, what do you want to do now?” Mark asks softly.

 

“Can we...can we watch a movie? After dinner? If that’s ok?”

“Of course we can!” They agree instantly.

 

So after dinner they gather around the living room, surrounding Yugyeom, watching a movie while wrapped in blankets, suddenly Jackson speaks up,

 

“Ok, I get why you have a nickname for Bambam, but how come Jaebum hyung gets to be called Jaebummie-hyung while the rest of us don’t have a nickname?”

 

Yugyeom blinks before shooting Jaebum, who was sitting next to him, a shy glance, “....Because he’s my favorite.”

 

“Yah!” The other hyungs protest as Bambam laughs.

 

Jaebum just grins and pulls him in tighter, he secretly sticks his tongue out at their affronted faces over Yugyeom’s ducked head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you may have noticed that I didn't update yesterday, and I'm sorry but yesterday was so hectic. I actually had most of this chapter written except for the ending, but I just had no time with all my school work and college applications. But I wrote this because I really needed to let out some steam because my mom was super stressed and she said some kind of hurtful things and like I know she didn't mean it and she's just super tired but feelings are feelings :( Plus she did apologize, only she must have been feeling really bad because she woke me up at 3am to apologize and I was like that's great, love you too, but couldn't this have waited until a decent hour? You literally kept me up until 12am, I just want to sleep???
> 
> Anyways this chapter doesn’t involve the exposing chain but I hope the fluff makes up for it <3 a lot of you really care for my well being, which so sweet of you, which is I’m not going to tell you what time I wrote most of this :P I hope you liked this :D <3


	12. (MONSTA X) Changkyun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun knows that his hyungs don’t blame him for anything, but sometimes he just feels guilty for no reason which can be a problem. But he has a lot of protectors and friends, something his hyungs are still getting used to.

The members of Monsta X know that they have wronged Changkyun, had it been anyone else in the maknae’s position, they would have raged or quit, they certainly would never have accepted the poor apology that the members had given him. But Changkyun, they were slowly finding out, was too nice for his own good. Gunhee’s talk had really opened their eyes, the rapper had raged at them about how Changkyun didn’t even sleep in the dorm, that the only reason he ever went to the Monsta X dorm at all was to cook, do chores and stock groceries in a dorm he wasn’t even welcomed in. He raged at them about how he pushed himself to his limit and lost weight and sleep because of them. He raged at them about how they made him feel guilty about something he had no say in and something that everyone else directly involved had already forgiven him for. He let it slip that Changkyun had even considered giving up the idol business because of them. 

 

They didn’t know what they were thinking, how blind they had been, where to even begin apologizing. Changkyun forgave them anyway. He moved into the dorm, occasionally staying over at Gunhee’s, but mostly with them. He walked on eggshells, still did the cooking, cleaning and shopping. Never argued, made himself as small as possible and it hurt because they did this to him and they don’t know how to fix it. Still, they try, they bring him out, they shower him with affection and slowly Changkyun eases up. It felt like it was getting better, but they should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

 

Changkyun understood where his hyungs were coming from, they cared for their friends and in their eyes, Changkyun was the bad guy. He understood it, so he couldn’t blame them, not really, he might have felt the same, who knows? So he forgives them because in his opinion, other than the unnecessarily mean things, there wasn’t anything to forgive. He moved back into the dorm, he still occasionally stays with Gunhee and Kwangmin, but he tries to settle into the Monsta X dorm. He was already familiar with the place because he had come to them dorm to do his chores and cook some meals, after all, just because he didn’t stay there didn’t mean he wasn’t a part of the group and he should still pull his weight. He used to stock the kitchen every Wednesday when he noticed that the members didn’t and the manager was getting tired. 

 

He continues to this even after he moves in. He knows he’s being oddly reserved, he just doesn’t want to overstep his boundaries. His members, however, didn’t leave him like that, they made an effort to include Changkyun and show him that they were really sorry. And Changkyun was starting to see that, slowly he becomes more open with them, ready to joke around and interact with. Still, he can’t shake off the feeling of mild guilt that he has become so used to carrying, he holds back from asking them from favors, not ready to burden them with his problems. When his shoes begin to wear out, he checks his bank account and grimaces. He really can’t buy another pair, but he doesn’t feel like asking anyone either. He decides to use them for for now until he can think of what to do.

 

What Changkyun didn’t realize was he still had an army of people ready to protect him and some of them could sense that Changkyun was still holding a certain level of guilt. They couldn’t let this sit, and while they were aware it wasn’t entirely Monsta X’s fault that Changkyun had a major guilt complex and they really were trying, they weren’t ready to let them off the hook as easy as Changkyun did. They knew they had to alert Monsta X about Changkyun’s guilt, but they didn’t have  _ nice _ about it. That would be ridiculous, and anyway, if Changkyun wasn’t going to petty then they would be petty for him.

 

It was sometime around 10:30 in the morning and Monsta X were already in the company building. They had split up for different practices, Jooheon and Hyungwon were in a recording studio, Hyunwoo and Kihyun were in the dance studio, Minhyuk and Hoseok were in the gym and since Changkyun didn’t have any scheduled practice in the morning, he was helping a few trainees with their rapping. They were starting to wrap up and leave their rooms because they had to meet in the dance studio where Hyunwoo and Kihyun were for group practice starting from 11am. 

 

Jooheon and Hyungwon grab the last of their things and head for the door, they push it open and nearly run into three trainees who were about to enter the room. The three trainees bowed to greet them and then one continued,

 

“Jooheon-sunbaenim and Hyungwon-sunbaenim right? You’re in the group with Changkyun hyung,” Something about the question felt almost passive aggressive.

 

Unbeknownst to Jooheon and Hyungwon, they had run into the very trainees that had auditioned for No. Mercy with Changkyun, the same trainees that had grown to be impressively protective of Changkyun, the one who asked the question was Wookyun who was protective enough that he joined the Changkyun Protection Squad group chat. 

 

Jooheon and Hyungwon nodded at him, wondering how they were familiar enough with Changkyun to call him hyung. 

 

“Hmm, you probably don’t know us, I’m Wookyun, Lim Wookyun, this is Kim Changho and Min Donghee, we’re rappers, we met Changkyun-hyung when we auditioned for No. Mercy together,” The trainee, Wookyun, seemed to look at them with a challenge in his eyes. 

 

Jooheon and Hyungwon froze, they couldn’t see where this was going, the other trainee, Changho, continued,

 

“Yeah, sometime after the group’s debut, he found us and apologized to us for passing the auditions, crazy huh?” If they didn’t know any better they would have said Changho was glaring at them.

 

“Of course, we told him that his apology was completely ridiculous, he didn’t have to apologize for anything, but ever since then we’ve grown a little...protective, we don’t like it when people try to spread baseless rumors and try to get him down,” Donghee’s words were drawled slowly and seemed rather pointed. 

 

“Maybe we aren’t being clear enough, but just to clarify, we’re trying to tell you is that we’re very fond of Changkyun hyung and we know how you have been treating him, we let you go for now, but if we find out that hyung is  _ still _ feeling guilty about things beyond his control, and that you aren’t helping him, we  _ won’t _ be as forgiving as Changkyun,” Wookyun stepped forward.

 

Jooheon and Hyungwon gulped, forget subtle or passive aggressive, their intentions were crystal clear, and they had the right, so they nodded and the trainees hummed in satisfaction before going into the recording room. The two outside exchanged glances and silently vowed to check on Changkyun and tell the other members about this, but not Changkyun. 

 

Meanwhile, Minhyuk and Hoseok had just taken their bags to head for the dance studio, stopping at the door to let in four trainees on the other side. The trainees seemed new and they greeted Hoseok and Minhyuk warily who assumed they were just nervous, so they smiled,

 

“A big group here,” Minhyuk chirped.

 

“Ah yes sunbaenim, we started coming to gym together a year ago, this kid, Dongwoo, got lost too often, Changkyun-hyung told us to go in groups so he actually gets to places,” One red haired boy laughed nervously. 

 

“Changkyun-hyung? As in our member?” Hoseok raised an eyebrow.

 

“Oh, um, yes sunbaenim, Changkyun hyung helps a lot of us trainees, most of us know him, nearly the whole company likes him, us trainees, the sunbaes, the teachers and the managers,” Another blue haired boy said, he looked almost proud of Changkyun.

 

“Ah, I see, well we should be going now,” Hoseok and Minhyuk turned to leave when a voice called out,

 

“Actually sunbaenims! I-Could I have a word, just shortly?” They turned back to trainees to see an orange haired boy look at them hesitantly.

 

“Yeah, sure, we do have to go soon though,” Minhyuk smiled.

 

“Right, well, it’s just, Changkyun hyung does a lot for us, and we’ve gotten really fond of him, we’ve also noticed that he tends not to take care of himself so well, and I-I know it may not our place but-,” The orange haired boy cut himself off,

 

“What he means is that we really care about hyung, we also are aware of hyung’s previous position in your group, we know that you’re trying to make it better, but if hyung continues to neglect his wellbeing and you don’t notice, we won’t be kind to you, even if you are our sunbaenims.” Dongwoo looked them straight in their eyes and Minhyuk and Hoseok had to respect that. 

 

They agreed and the trainees bowed and went towards the machines and Minhyuk and Hoseok left the room. They looked at each other outside and shuddered slightly. They understood the trainees feelings and they knew that the threat was the least they deserved, at least Changkyun had people who would stand up for him when he himself wouldn’t.

 

On the other side of the building, Kihyun and Hyunwoo were sitting on the floor stretching as they waited for the rest of the members. They look up as they hear the door open, they startle and shoot to their feet when they see the members of Boyfriend, they bow instantly greeting their sunbaes. The members of Boyfriend look slightly confused at the sight of their hoobaes but greet them nonetheless,

 

“Ah, we must have gotten the wrong room, aish, even after all these years we can still get lost,” Donghyun clicks his tongue.

 

“Sorry we interrupted,” Minwoo smiles at them.

 

“Ah, it’s no problem sunbaenim, we were just stretching, the other members will be coming soon for practice,” Hyunwoo bows again.

 

“Oh, is Changkyunnie coming now?” Jeongmin perks up.

 

Hyunwoo and Kihyun exchange glances at the nickname, 

 

“Er, yes he is, he didn’t have a schedule before group practice so he was helping some trainees,” Kihyun shuffles.

 

“Of course he was, that kid,” Youngmin shakes his head fondly.

 

“We met Changkyun because of Kwangmin, since Kwangmin is dating Gunhee they meet quite often so we got to know him as well,” Donghyun explains.

 

“Actually, since we’re already here, there is something we’d like to talk to you about,” Kwangmin starts suddenly, he continues at Hyunwoo and Kihyun’s nods, “We’ve grown to be fairly protective over Changkyun and we know about how he was previously ostracized here, we also know that you’re trying to fix it, so we won’t bother you too much, but we want to make it clear that if Changkyun still feels even slightly like how he used to, we won’t be kind.”

 

Hyunwoo and Kihyun nod at once and then, to the confusion of Boyfriend, Kihyun proceeds to glare at Hyunwoo who raises his hands in surrender. Kihyun just shakes his head at him and before the members of Boyfriend can ask what that was about, Kihyun takes out his phone to read a message,

 

“The kids will be a couple of minutes late, apparently they ran into a few people, honestly I need to have a talk with them about proper time management,” Kihyun huffs sounding every bit the mother like figure he was known for.

 

“Relax Ki, they’re just being kids, and it’s only a few minutes,” Hyunwoo tries to reason.

 

“Hmph, you’re too relaxed, I mean look at what happened with Changkyun, I  _ told _ you we were being too harsh, I  _ told _ you we needed to talk to other kids about their behaviour, and what did you say? Hmm?” Kihyun points his finger threateningly to the amusement of Boyfriend.

 

“I said they’re being stupid and they’ll figure out their mistakes soon enough,” Hyunwoo mumbles with an air of defeat.

 

“And what happened?” Kihyun pokes Hyunwoo.

 

“I was wrong and you were right,” Hyunwoo sighs, “to be fair, you weren’t exactly that kind either,” He points out.

 

“I’m never kind, I scold people, that’s my form of affection, Changkyun would know this if the rest of you weren’t complete fools!” Kihyun glares at Hyunwoo.

 

“Ok! Ok! I made a mistake! Many mistakes! Ow Kihyun-Ow stop!” Hyunwoo grabs his shoulder and backs away from Kihyun’s fist.

 

“So then you agree that it would be a good idea to sit down Changkyun and ask him what’s bugging him,” Kihyun crosses his arms.

 

Boyfriend observes the interaction with bemusement, apparently what happened to Changkyun wasn’t as clear cut as they thought, if what they were hearing was any indication. At least one person was more observant, maybe Changkyun would be in good hands, although if he were to be the one doing the questioning it may be a bit counter productive, Hyunwoo seemed to agree.

 

“If you do it I think he may feel like he’s in a police interrogation,” Hyunwoo says warily.

 

“Well it can’t be  _ you _ , you’d never be able to get anything from him,” Kihyun huffs, he spots Hyunwoo’s considering look and stops him, “We are  _ not _ sending one of the kids to question him, they’ll be just as bad.”

 

“We should give him some time, just make sure he knows he can come to us if necessary,” Hyunwoo suggests. 

 

It seemed like a reasonable idea to the members of Boyfriend, Kihyun huffs,

 

“I swear to god, if something happens, I  _ will _ blame you!”

 

“Fine ok!” Hyunwoo raises his hands again and this time Kwangmin laughs.

 

Hyunwoo and Kihyun startle having forgotten that there were others in the room. They grimace sheepishly and move to explain when the members just shake their head,

 

“Don’t worry about it, we understand, you two are like the parents of the group huh,” Donghyun teases. 

 

“Hah, yeah I guess,” Kihyun laughs nervously. 

 

“Well, it looks like you’ve got this under control so we’ll be going now,” Youngmin smiles and they begin the move to the door which opens once more.

 

The members of Monsta X file in gasping, probably after running to the practice room, Changkyun comes in last, but he stays near the door pointing down the hallway as he speaks to a trainee that was next to him,

 

“So that’s the room you’re looking for, there should others who can help you find your way around here, try to stick with at least one person until you get used to the building, you’ll be fine,” Changkyun smiles warmly and everyone else exchanges fond glances behind him. 

 

He turns around after the trainee leaves with a thanks and blinks in surprise when he spots the members of Boyfriend at the same time as his other four members.

 

“Hello sunbaenims,” Hyungwon, Hoseok, Jooheon and Minhyuk chorus and bow.

 

Changkyun on the other hand blinks at them, “Hyungs? What are you doing here?”

 

“We got the wrong room,” Minwoo laughs.

 

“Seriously hyungs? Aish, after all these years?” Changkyun clicks his tongue at them teasingly.

 

“Yah! Watch it!” Jeongmin mock glares.

 

“Anyway, we have to go now, we’ll see you later,” Youngmin grins and they each ruffle Changkyun’s hair as they leave. 

“Sorry about them hyungs, they’re get a little crazy sometimes,” Changkyun chuckled and shook his head, oblivious to the incredulous stares he was receiving,

 

“Did he just call our sunbaes crazy?” Minhyuk whispers to Jooheon.

 

“They seem like friends,” Jooheon shrugs. 

 

“Er, right, it’s ok, we should probably get started so we can have lunch at, say… 12:30?” Hyunwoo looks at the clock.

 

The members nod and they quickly begin their practice. They go through their choreography with some ease with all the hours they had been putting into their practice, but it’s clear to see that Changkyun had by far practiced the most, he danced almost on reflex and Jooheon watched in awe as the boy nailed steps that they only had known for a week. Hyungwon and Hoseok exchange glances as Changkyun subtly helps Minhyuk with a step before Hyunwoo noticed. Finally it was 12:30 and the boys pushed their belongings to the side and trudged to the canteen. The rest of the group warily nod at the many passing people who greet Changkyun,

 

“Good afternoon Changkyun-ah,” smiled one vocal teacher.

 

“Whoops, oh hi Changkyun hyung, see you later,” yelped a running trainee.

 

“Ah Changkyun-ah, have you seen Seok?” asked a frazzled manager.

 

“Good afternoon Changkyun-hyung,” chorused a group of trainees.

 

Clearly their maknae was more popular than they had realized, they stayed silent as Changkyun replied to each person, their nerves still frazzled from their own encounters with Changkyun’s friends. They silently crossed their fingers in vain hope for a peaceful lunch. Finally they arrived at the canteen and made their way to the counter with their trays, picking out their lunch. Jooheon and Minhyuk gape as Changkyun, oblivious to their attempts of haggling for extra portions for free, bashfully tries to refuse the extra portion he received for free before sighing in defeat,

 

“They always do this, someday I’ll need to diet because of this,” Changkyun mutters, still unaware of the incredulous looks he was receiving. 

 

Eventually they all gather around one table, the other members relax as they begin to dig in to their food when two figures swoop in next to Changkyun, pushing Hyungwon and Hoseok to the sides and one more squeezes in between Kihyun and Jooheon opposite the maknae, Changkyun just glances at three before rolling his eyes. 

 

“Yoonha?”

“Seokwoon?”

 

“Minkyun?!” 

 

The voices of the other six overlap as they exclaim in surprise,

 

“In the flesh,” Minkyun grinned

 

“We just wanted to see how you were doing,” Seokwoon explains

 

“And make sure Kyunnie is eating properly,” Yoonha pokes Changkyun’s cheek.

 

Changkyun sticks out his tongue, “I’m eating  _ too _ well, I keep getting an extra portion, they’re trying to sabotage me I swear,” he grumbles.

 

The three newcomers laugh,

 

“They can’t help it, they saw you when you’re hoodie became almost three sizes too big from being a perfect fit,” Yoonha squeezes Changkyun’s shoulder.

 

“Besides, you’re still growing, you need to eat, did you sleep well last night?” Seokwoon nudges Changkyun.

 

“Have you been drinking enough water? Sleeping enough?” Yoonha fussed.

 

“Yah, eat your vegetables Kyunnie-ah” Minkyun scolded from opposite him.

 

The rest of Monsta X watch with bemusement as Yoonha and Seokwoon somehow turn into Changkyun’s parents and Minkyun starts to feed Changkyun more vegetables, and Changkyun just rolls his eyes but goes with it,

 

“Hmm, hang on hyungs, I just spotted Rowoon, I’ll be back,” Changkyun suddenly gets up and heads for a trainee one table away.

 

“He’s taken nearly all of these trainees under his wing,” Minkyun says fondly.

 

“Rowoon-ah, is this all your eating?” Changkyun starts to fuss over the younger.

 

Minkyun, Yoonha and Seokwoon exchange grins,

 

“He can’t even argue that we fuss too much, he does the same to the other trainees!” Minkyun laughs.

 

They train their eyes on the other six who begin to shift uneasily,

 

“Actually, since he isn’t here,” Minkyun starts, they restrain themselves from smashing their heads into the table, “Let’s have a talk.”

 

“You are our friends, and we are grateful that you cared about us so much and felt for our situation, but the way you treated Changkyun was unacceptable,” Yoonha continues

 

“We know that you’ve started to make amends, we’re still your friends but just remember, if you don’t try hard enough to fix this, we may change our minds,” Seokwoon finishes as Changkyun starts back, Kihyun kicks Hyunwoo’s leg.

 

“Sorry about that hyungs,” Changkyun grins and sits back down.

 

They talk and joke for some time before they eventually have to go back to their schedules. Monsta X continue with their practice for the next three hours eagerly waiting for their next break, but also feeling hesitant to leave the practice room anymore because of all the protective threats aimed at them for Changkyun. They knew that they deserved this, and they were glad that Changkyun had so many people willing to fight for him, but it was getting too much to handle in one day, couldn’t they have spread it out? Finally it’s time for break and they step out hesitantly, the breathe a sigh of relief as they successfully make it to the cafeteria with no interruptions. That is, until Gunhee and Kwangmin take a seat on either side of Changkyun.

 

“Kyuunnieee!” Gunhee squeezes Changkyun from his side.

 

“Gah! Hyungs, what are you doing?!” Changkyun flails and drops his chopsticks.

 

“We missed you…” Kwangmin starts

 

“....in our bed,” Gunhee finishes with a smirk.

 

“...Oh my god, hyungs, there could have a hundred different ways to say that,” Changkyun shakes his head while the rest of Monsta X exchange bemused glances.

 

“But it’s truuueee, you haven’t been to our dorm in daaayyys,” Gunhee whines

 

“You know that you’re dating  _ each other _ right? I’m not actually part of your relationship,” Changkyun raises his eyebrow.

 

“How dare you! Of course you’re part of this relationship!” Kwangmin yelps promptly, “you’re our kid brother thing, I would say child but Yoonha and Seokwoon are your designated parents here so I can’t risk it.”

 

“I’m flattered.” Changkyun’s voice as dry as the sahara.

 

“Yah, can we steal your maknae tomorrow night?” Gunhee pouts at Hyunwoo.

 

“Umm, I mean, if Changkyun wants to go he could,” Hyunwoo stutters.

 

“Great! See you tomorrow Kyun-ah” Kwangmin drops a kiss on top of Changkyun’s head and Gunhee squeezes him one last time before they leave.

 

“Hooney, how about we grab lunch tomorrow?” Gunhee tosses his best friend a line.

 

Jooheon frowns, sparing a glance at Minhyuk who runs his hand through his hair and shoots back an apologetic look, “Um, yeah, sure, I’ll see if I can.”

 

Changkyun scowls, “Don’t be stupid, of course you can hyung, you better go!”

 

“Changkyun…” Jooheon’s eyes flick to Gunhee before looking back at Changkyun.

 

The maknae line stare at each other in a silent conversation until Jooheon rolls his eyes with a huff, “Yeah, ok, I’ll be there, lunch tomorrow,” He quirks his lips into a half smile at Gunhee.

 

Gunhee frowns, he doesn’t know what just happened, doesn’t understand why Jooheon would be so reluctant to have lunch with him, or why he would be looking at Minhyuk first. Perhaps it had to do with the scolding he had given the group, but he thought he made it clear that they were all still his friends, he didn’t agree with what they had done, and it was his job as a friend to tell them that they were doing something they would regret. Jooheon knew that, Gunhee knows, so this was something else, something that Changkyun knew about, but he didn’t.

 

He watches them head back to the practice room and shakes his head before taking his phone out to text Changkyun. Kwangmin throws an arm around his shoulder and leans in to see the screen better. 

 

_ Gunhee >> Kyuuniee _

**Gunhee:** what was tht w/ hooney??

**Kyunnie:** we’re abt 2 strt practice hyung

**Gunhee:** so type fast or something

**Kyunnie:** idk if i shud tell u

**Gunhee:** ヽ(ಠ_ಠ)ノ

**Kyunnie:** omg

**Kyunnie:** fine

**Gunhee:** (✿◠‿◠)

**Kyunnie:** omg n e ways

**Kyunnie:** Jooheon hyun feels rlly bad for wht he did

**Kyunnie:** he only really said mean things because Minhyuk kept doing it 

**Kyunnie:** apparently ceo-nim had been telling them stupid things abtt them

**Kyunnie:** n threatened to drp thm from the line up

**Kyunnie:** minnie-hyung and hooney-hyung were stressed n angry

**Kyunnie:** n then you nvr made it but they did and i did

**Kyunnie:** they didnt rly mean to take their anger out on me but they did

**Kyunnie:** now they feel really guilty even tho they apologised n r being super nice

**Kyunnie:** and...well

**Kyunnie:** Jooheon-hyung thinks he doesn’t deserve to be your friend

**Gunhee:** that...thats so stupid he was an idiot but he owned up to it n is trying 2 fix it

**Gunhee:** i didnt even know abt ceo-nim

**Kyunnie:** they didnt wanna tell anyone 

**Kyunnie:** they’ve actually been working just as much as me just not in the building

**Kyunnie:** hooney-hyung was always working on raps, barely slept

**Gunhee:** n d others?? Did ceo-nim say n e thing 2 thm

**Kyunnie:** wonnie-hyung and seokie-hyung nvr rlly did n e thing, they just kind of ignored me

**Kyunnie:** they didn’t want to fite w/ anyone but they apologised fr being stupid n not saying smth

**Kyunnie:** n Kihyun-hyung wanted 2 say something but Hyunwoo-hyung thought we’d work it out w/out pushing it

**Kyunnie:** it was basically a huge mess of ppl hating themselves being tired angry n not tlking

**Gunhee:** im-

**Gunhee:** you deserve each other smh

**Gunhee:** i’ll tlk to hooney 2mrw

**Kyunnie:** k bye

 

Changkyun puts his phone away with a slight smile, happy with the knowledge that Gunhee was going to knock some sense into his hyung. He knows it was a terrible situation, and Jooheon and Minhyuk were under a lot of pressure, and the lack of sleep only made them more irritable, they were never truly mad at Changkyun when their friends were eliminated, they were mad at themselves, but Changkyun had made himself a target and they unintentionally began snapping at him when they couldn’t snap at their hyungs, it didn’t excuse them completely, but it did make the situation more understandable. And they accepted their mistakes and were doing what they could to correct it, so they should really just put the past behind them, but Changkyun could see that the members were having a harder time letting go than he was. 

 

Soon enough night arrived and they had gone back to their dorm, Changkyun heads into his room that he shared with Jooheon and Minhyuk, they would be having dinner soon and Changkyun was going to rest a bit. Hyungwon and Hoseok had gone out to the convenient store for some reason, Jooheon and Minhyuk were playing Mario Kart in the living room while Hyunwoo was helping Kihyun in the kitchen. Changkyun had waved off Hyungwon and Hoseok when they offered to get him something from the store, smiling as they rolled their eyes at him before leaving. All their attitudes had changed recently, Jooheon and Minhyuk being older brothers while Hyunwoo and Kihyun did this weird co-parenting thing with Yoonha and Seokwoon (he has too many parents at this point) but Hyungwon and Hoseok? He didn’t know where they fell, they cared, that much was obvious. And they had never been truly bad to him during this whole thing, maybe one or two comments when tensions were running high but they snapped at the others just as much in those moments so it wasn’t just Changkyun. They seemed to understand him on a whole different level, knew what he wanted almost better than himself. Yes, he didn’t know what they were, friends maybe? He sighs and takes out his phone as he plops onto his bed.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**sannie:** [img.png]

**sannie:** so i may have sprained my wrist on mon nite

**sannie:** i didnt tell n e 1 but its killing me rn

**sannie:** wht do i do

**sannie:** i don wanna tll hyungs

**chimmie:** it’s thurs nite rn you fool

**teayungie:** smh chim also omg sannie ur arm looks terrible

**teayungie:** we’re cookin rn so kooks cant type

**chimmie:** he said try ice + ointment

**channie:** try some painkillers

**yugsie:** ^ careful about how u sleep

**bammie:** dont crush your arm

**kyunnie:** dont strain it 2 much

**sannie:** thx <3

**channie:** np i was just practicing anyway

**kookie:** @ this hr?

**channie:** new choreo’s out 2 get me #_# 

**channie:** xtra practice fr me #imded

**yugsie:** @kookie wht happened to cookin?

**kookie:** takin a break, tae just finished laundry so he took over

**sannie:** i thot jin-hyung does that?

**chimmie:** hyungs r busy so we helpin 

 

Changkyun frowns at Chanwoo’s message, that kid had a bad habit of overworking himself, he couldn’t be sure if he still was and he knows that the members of iKON were keeping watch on him so he settles for sending a quick message.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** @channie dont overwork urself 

**channie:** *salutes*

**bammie:** @sannie why dont u wanna tll ur hyungs???

**yugsie:** yeh isnt tht easier????

**sannie:** it’s stupid but im 2 scared

**sannie:** like i dont wanna burden them 

**kookie:** u rite it is stupid

**chimmie:** smh they not gonna break up w/you cos u hurt ur arm

 

On some level he could understand where Sanghyuk was coming from, but on the other hand he knew it was a rubbish excuse and his arm needed help. 

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** where is the logic???

**bammie:** ur thot process is insane

**channie:** who wuld brk up w/ someone cos they got injured???

**yugsie:** ur making me scared of relationship standards smh

**sannie:** stop bashing me :( ik it’s stupid ic help it

**sannie:** just dont tell them

**chimmie:** fine *silent disapproval*

**kookie:** fiinnee *agrees only cause ur my hyung*

**kyunnie:** ok *lowkey judging you*

**channie:** *reluctantly salutes in agreement*

**yugsie:** u makin it worse but ok 

**bammie:** u stupid but fine

**sannie:** the shade tho O.o

**sannie:** @tae??

**kookie:** cooking

**sannie:** hmm, fine, bye

**sannie:** @teayungie you sly fox i shud be mad @ all of u

 

Changkyun laughs at the message, he had expected Taehyung to do this, but it was still funny to see his hyung’s reaction. 

 

_ Maknaes United _

**teayungie:** but u arent cos we’re rite

**kyunnie:** n u <3 us

**yugsie:** mwah

**chimmie:** so what did they do???

**bammie:** ^ spill the tea

**channie:** how sweet were they??

**kookie:** ^^ ;)

**sannie:** they told me that i’ll never be a burden and to come to them for anything

**sannie:** then they helped me w/ my hand n fed me dinner even though they didn’t have to

**chimmie:** *squeeee* my heart 

**teayungie:** omg you better thank me for this 

**kookie:** y r u d only 1 in a relationship here smh

**bammie:** my heart is fluttering on your behalf????

**yugsie:** thats??? so soft??? #jealous

**kyunnie:** happy for u but lowkey jealous smh

**channie:** ^ i want a bf 2 ;_;

**sannie:** i <3 u all n i can set u up if you wanted ;)

 

Sannie-hyung goes offline, to rest most likely, but Changkyun thinks back to his beat up shoes and decides to see if his friends know where he could get better ones, none of his hyungs hada really been focusing on shoes, so they didn’t notice that Changkyun’s shoes were essentially being held together by will power and scotch tape.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** does any1 kno where 2 buy cheap shoes???

**kyunnie:** mine are worn out n i dont have much $$ 

**yugsie:** smh what did u buy???

 

Changkyun blushes as he recollects the moment when he went grocery shopping yesterday, having woken up late, he was in a rush to finish his groceries and was going to get some ramen near the exit when he accidentally bumped into another lady doing her groceries and her things fell to the ground with her. She had insisted she was fine, but Changkyun felt so bad that he paid for all the groceries and bought her some extra noodles to apologize. 

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** i accidentally knocked over a lady doing groceries so i paid for it all

**kyunnie:** and bought her xtra ramen to say sorry

**kookie:** cos nothing says sry like instant noodles

**chimmie:**  omg

**bammie:** smh

**channie:** how bad r ur shoes??

 

Changkyun sends them a picture that he had taken a day ago.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** [img.png]

**channie:** 0.o they look as bad as i feel smh

**channie:** try this place: [location]

**channie:** why don’t u ask your hyungs tho???

**kyunnie:** id feel bad tho :( they already do so much fr me

**channie:** ….lame but ok

 

He grinned knowing that Chanwoo would always understand where he was coming from, the two of them had a special bond, they were both ostracized by their bandmates and they had gotten quite protective of each other. He checks the location and finds out that the store was only a ten minute walk from his dorm, he decides to check it out tomorrow after practice and hopes his shoes will hold out until then.

 

Meanwhile, Hyunwoo backs out of the kitchen as Kihyun shoos him away with a spatula saying he had dinner under control, he shakes his head at Jooheon and Minhyuk as they yelled fake insults at each other while playing their game, upon entering his room he throws himself onto his chair and takes out his phone which had started to buzz, he frowns at the unknown number and then smiles when he sees it was iKON’s maknae.

 

_ Unknown > Hyunwoo _

**unknown:** is this Hyunwoo hyung from Monsta X?

**unknown:** this is Chanwoo from iKON >.<

**Hyunwoo hyung:** chanwoo hi! What’s up?

**chanwoo:** kyunnie-hyung’s being stupid so i’m exposing him

**chanwoo:** [screenshot.png]

**chanwoo:** idk y hyung still feels like this but if you hurt him we’ll hurt u 

**chanwoo:** n e ways i gtg gudnite

 

Hyunwoo gapes at his phone, at the threat, at the state of Changkyun’s shoes, and at Changkyun’s sense of guilt, which was quite frankly, pretty stupid. Not to mention that Kihyun was undoubtedly right once again about their maknae, the only thing that could possibly work at this point was a full on intervention with all the members, Changkyun had to know how they felt about him and how much they cared or they never make any true progress. He hears the front door open and shut signalling the return of Hyungwon and Hoseok so he gets up from his chair and heads to the living room.

 

He sticks his head into the kitchen and calls out Kihyun who hesitates then follows him into the living room. He tells Minhyuk and Jooheon to pause the game for a moment and tells Hyungwon and Hoseok to hurry up into living room.

 

“Hyung? What’s going on?” Jooheon asks confused.

 

“I just received a message from iKON’s maknae, a screenshot of their group chat with each other, apparently Changkyun’s shoes are completely beat up and we haven’t noticed, even worse is, well, Changkyun doesn’t have much money with him because he paid for some lady’s groceries and bought her extra ramen because he knocked her over and felt bad, he didn’t want to ask us for help because he doesn’t want to be a burden,” Hyunwoo explains everything he had gathered from the screenshot.

 

The members gape at him,

 

“I told you something was wrong!” Kihyun hisses

 

“Woah, wait, but why would he think that?” Minhyuk drops his controller

 

“Because he’s an idiot with one hell of a guilt complex,” Hoseok rolls his eyes to the ceiling

“If that isn’t the truth,” Hyungwon shakes his head

 

“So we’re going to talk to him right?” Jooheon speaks up

 

“Yes, yes we are,” Hyunwoo runs his hand through his hair, at his words the other members immediately head towards Changkyun’s room and Hyunwoo looks up at the ceiling hoping this would go well.

 

Changkyun startles as his other members barge into the room, each of them talking rapidly, their voices overlapping each other, he raises his eyebrow as Minhyuk flails his arms and hits Jooheon in the face and Hyunwoo buries his head in his hands in exasperation while Kihyun punches him in the shoulder, Hyungwon and Hoseok just roll their eyes and settle down on the bed on either side of Changkyun.

 

“Umm, what’s going on?” Changkyun questions hesitantly

 

“You’re an idiot,” Hyungwon states matter of factly

 

“Well, that’s nice,” Changkyun huffs sarcastically, his eyes widen as realizes what he did and claps a hand over his mouth.

 

Hoseok pries Changkyun’s hand away, “That, that is what we’re talking about.”

 

Changkyun shoots them a bewildered look, “I don’t-” 

 

“Chanwoo sent me a message, as screenshot, we know about your shoes Changkyun, we also know that you for some reason you still feel guilty about your place in the group and you still feel like a burden,” Hyunwoo softens at Changkyun’s shocked expression.

 

“Look, I know we made a lot of mistakes, and I know you have no reason to believe us or forgive us, but what you should do is  _ not _ feel guilty about what  _ we  _ did to you, you don’t need that Changkyun,” Kihyun stares him down.

 

“You have never been and never will be a burden to us and I’m sorry that we ever made you feel this way,” Jooheon says softly

 

“We’re here for you Changkyun-ah, you have  _ so _ many people who care for you, and I’m sorry it took us so long, but you have to understand that we’re here for you too,” Minhyuk emphasises.

 

“No matter what you need,” Hyungwon rubs his shoulder.

 

“So how about we go shoe shopping tomorrow and you remember to come to us when you need it huh?” Hoseok nudges him in the side.

Changkyun eyes them all, “...Only if you stop feeling guilty about this too.”

 

“Changkyun…” Kihyun frowns

 

“I’m serious hyungs, it was a bad situation, and I understand what happened was wrong, but we were all in bad places and that just made things worse, and I would rather we just put this whole thing behind us and start over,” Changkyun says seriously.

 

“Fine,” the other members agree hesitantly.

 

“Great, so when’s dinner?” Changkyun chirps.

 

They shake their heads and Kihyun tells them to come to the table in thirty minutes.

 

One by one they file out of the room and Hyungwon and Hoseok squeeze him one last time before leaving. Changkyun sighs and then wraps his arms around his legs as butterflies erupt in his stomach. He fumbles around for his phone,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** channie you sneaky little brat

**channie:** <3 u 2 hyung

**bammie:** omg whut

**yugsie:** wht just happened

**kyunnie:** this one just sent Hyunwoo-hyung a screenshot about my shoes

**chimmie:** @tae u started this

**teayungie:** im so proud of u channie

**kookie:** lolol so they spoke to u then???

**kyunnie:** yes it was v sweet

**kyunnie:** @sannie when u wake up… tell me how u knew u liked more than 1 person

**chimmie:** OMG DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE

**bammie:** WAIT WHAT

**channie:** WHOMST 

**yugsie:** WAIT OMG U LIKE MORE THAN 1 PERSON

**kookie:** 0w0

**teayungie:** IS IT ALL YOUR MEMBERS??

**kyunnie:**  NO WHTA ITS ONLY 2 PEOPLE

**kyunnie:** IDEK FOR SURE

**channie:** IT’S HYUNGWON HYUNG AND HOSEOK HYUNG ISNT IT???

**kyunnie:** HOW???

**teayungie:** OMG CHANGKYUNN

**kyunnie:** STOP SCREAMING AT ME I STILL HAVE TO EAT DINNER W/ THEM

**chimmie:** omg you’re totally in love smh

**kookie:** this is not entirely unexpected tbh

**yugsie:** tru

**bammie:** shud hv seen it coming

**kyunnie:** WHAT? Y U NO TELL ME???

**channie:** it’s your feelings tho???

**kyunnie:** smh i gtg for dinner now

 

Changkyun takes a deep breath and tries to will away the blush that has appeared on his cheeks and calm his heart. He gulps and heads for the table and sits down. He eats fairly quietly and inserts a few jokes here and there, but resolutely avoids looking at either Hyungwon or Hoseok especially in their eyes. Finally he hurriedly excuses himself from the table and practically dashes towards his bed, Hyungwon and Hoseok watch him go with confused looks, completely missing the exchanged smirks between Jooheon and Minhyuk and the fondly exasperated looks of Kihyun and Hyunwoo. 

 

Later as everyone is hanging around, Hyunwoo looks at the screenshot once more when he notices the message from Chanwoo alluding to exhaustion, he doesn’t know for sure but he figures it couldn’t hurt to send the message to the Leaders’ group chat.

 

_ Oblivious w/ a hint of Ignorance _

**hyunwoo:** @hanbin ur maknae is terrifying 

**hyunwoo:**  he just let me kno that kyunnie was still guilty which we just had a talk about

**hyunwoo:** he also threatened me if i hurt him

**hanbin:** omg

**hyunwoo:** but there’s something else about the messages he sent in the gc u shud c

**hyunwoo:** [screenshot.png]

**hakyeon:** which reminds me

**hakyeon:** taehyung sent me a message earlier, sannie had sprained his arm but didn’t tell us

**hakyeon:** so taehyung sent a screenshot, im pretty sure something’s off w/ the other kids 2

**hakyeon:** [screenshot.png]

**hakyeon:** [screenshot1.png]

**hakyeon:** [screenshot2.png]

 

He frowns at the other screenshots seeing the condition of Sanghyuk’s arm and the other allusions from Chanwoo about his exhaustion, he also notices the messages from the BTS maknae line about them once again picking up extra chores, he doesn’t notice anything in particular from the GOT7 line but with what he sees, it may not be a stretch to assume they may be having some issues soon. Namjoon and Jaebum have yet to respond but Hyunwoo sees that they’re still offline and guesses that they either have schedules or are in bed. It’s nearly 11pm when his phone buzzes again, he sleepily picks up his phone sighing, he had just been nodding off.

 

_ Unknown > Hyunwoo _

**unknown:** is this hyunwoo hyung?

**unknown:** you’re probably asleep by now

**unknown:** this is bambam and yugyeom, using bambam’s phone

**unknown:** ik channie already spoke 2 u 

**unknown:** n u guys had a tlk n everything but if you hurt again

**unknown:** u better b careful

**unknown:** n e ways goodnight n i hope your grp does well :)

 

Hyunwoo swallows at the sight of the threatening smiley face when he gets more messages.

 

_ Unknown > Hyunwoo _

**unknown:** this is hyunwoo hyung from MX right?

**unknown:** this is jimin’s phone it’s jungkook taehyung and jimin 

**unknown:** im pretty sure Chanwoo already spoke2 u

**unknown:** n we know u already spoke 2 kyunnie

**unknown:** so we’re just gonna tell u 2 be careful abt how u treat ur maknae

**unknown:** n then we won’t have to bother you :)

**unknown:** have a good night :)

 

Hyunwoo….Hyunwoo is done with life… never has he seen as many passive aggressive smiley faces in his life (except that one ex-boyfriend but we don’t talk about that), half delirious with sleep he decides to shoot a message to the leaders’ chat anyways before passing out.

 

_ Oblivious w/ a hint of ignorance _

**hyunwoo:** nvm all your maknaes are scary tbh

**hyunwoo:** they all sent me the same screenshot n threatened me like Chanwoo

**hyunwoo:** im glad their friends tho

**hyunwoo:** ig you’re aall asleeeep now wwhooopsi

 

Meanwhile Hyungwon and Hoseok pad over to Changkyun’s room, they quietly open the door and notice that Jooheon and Minhyuk were already asleep, they were heavy sleepers anyway, but Changkyun was still awake peering at his phone. They tiptoe to his bed and whisper at him to follow them, he frowns in confusion but throws his legs over the edge of the bed anyway. He follows them into the living room,

 

“Wonnie hyung? Seokie hyung? What?” Changkyun looks at them bewildered as they move towards the sliding doors of the balcony hidden behind the curtains.

 

“Shh, just follow us,” Hyungwon whispers.

 

They stop in front of the curtains and Hoseok covers Changkyun’s eyes with his hands, “It’s a surprise,” he explains.

 

He hears the curtains being pushed aside and the sliding door open, a nice smell wafts in from the balcony and Hoseok slowly removes his hands. Changkyun inhales sharply as he takes in the sight. 

 

There were fairy lights draped all over the balcony railings and a picnic blanket was spread out on the ground. There were pillows, blankets, candles, bowls and a large pot of ramen on top of the sheet and flowers scattered all around.

 

“We-we remembered that you said you wished you could go on a picnic,” Hyungwon started

 

“It isn’t much, it isn’t in a park or something and it’s almost midnight, but we-we just,” Hoseok stutters

 

“Do you like it?” Hyungwon whispers

 

Changkyun’s gaze sweeps across the set up knowing how long it must have taken, he looks at the ramen that he knows was Hoseok’s, the one he guarded so preciously from the other members, he thinks about the time and how Hyungwon decided to give up his precious sleep time for this, for  _ him _ , he turns around and looks at them with tears in his eyes,

 

“Are you stupid? Of course I like it! Love it actually… this is- you’re so-  _ god _ ,” Changkyun can’t finish his sentence and he knows right there and then that he was head over heels for the two people in front of him. 

 

They blush and look at their feet before looking back at Changkyun, their gazes strong,

 

“Actually...there is… there is something else,” Hyungwon hesitates.

 

“We know, this may not be the best of time,”

 

“And that we don’t deserve anything from you,”

 

“But Hyungwon and I have been talking,”

 

“And you can always say no,”

 

“We won’t be weird,”

 

“It’s just, we”

 

“Well we,” They hesitate and Changkyun looks at them consideringly.

 

He thinks about the flowers he saw scattered and the heart shaped candle and their hesitant faces and he thinks he knows where this is going, but he needs to know for sure.

 

“Actually, nevermind, it’s probably stupid don’t worry about it,” Hoseok mutters

 

“Just enjoy the picnic yeah?” Hyungwon smiles discouraged, and there’s no way Changkyun is letting this go.

 

“No wait, continue what you were saying hyungs,” He fixes his gaze on the both of them, they exchange hesitant looks and Changkyun tries to convey all his feelings with his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything, he  _ needs _ them to say it first.

 

“Please,” he whispers, his eyes dark, “Just say it.”

 

That seems to do the trick and Hyungwon and Hoseok take a deep breath,

 

“We  _ really  _ like you,” they blurt out.

 

Changkyun’s lips twitch, “Like  _ like-like? _ ”

 

They grimace at the wording but say, “Yes, like-like…”

 

Changkyun grins wolfishly and steps closer to them, “Well that’s good,” his voice is low and raspy and they shiver, “Because I ‘ _ like-like _ ’ you too.”

 

They release a shaky breath and before he knows it they’re exchanging kisses as he’s pushed up against a wall, he doesn’t know how much time goes by but finally they step back from each other and Hoseok mutters,

 

“The ramen is probably cold,” 

 

Changkyun and Hyungwon laugh and together they go out to balcony where the candle is still burning and the fairy lights are still shining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING OFF THE FACE OF THE PLANET OMG I EVEN MISSED CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR SO I'M UPLOADING AS MANY CHAPS AS I CAN WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS!!!! Also Changkyun's chapter just blew up without my consent so I hope the length makes up for my absence. Also can someone please woo me like Hyungwon and Hoseok wooed Changkyun?? I'm just a lonely girl smh *writes about relationships despite never having any bfs/gfs or any kisses* ...
> 
> I've been taking some time to relax and I still have some odd nights (like that one night I went down to the kitchen at 1am and ate ice cream straight out of the box with a plastic teaspoon from KFC) with not much sleep but for the most part I'm way better than I had been. Thank you for being such sweethearts and waiting for me <3


	13. (BTS) Maknae Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The maknae line know that their hyungs want them to stop taking care of them and they have been getting used to hyungs taking care of them but it’s hard to shake the habit of taking care of their hyungs and they have been secretly doing it again out habit.

After whole incident, the hyung line made sure that the maknae line were not put in position to take care of them again. They kept track of all their chores and made sure to finish them before any of them could do it instead. They kept an eye on them during practices and Hobi tried to relax a little so he wouldn’t be unnecessarily harsh. It seemed to be going well, Jimin started to eat more around them, Taehyung made more jokes in their presence and Jungkook goofed around like the kid he was. They felt like they were finally making progress, they should have been more on guard when their schedules picked up once more.

 

It was on a Friday morning, when the maknae line were in the car waiting for their hyungs, their manager had unintentionally muttered something about the hyungs being tired. Progress or not, the words triggered an automatic reaction. The hyungs were too busy to keep track of who was doing what chores, so the maknaes intercepted and the hyungs assumed someone else had done it. They started to take care of the food unbeknownst to the hyungs who had been coming in late, they would leave out the dinner but also a thank you note leading the hyungs to assume their manager had brought the food or something along those lines, they were too tired to think much of it. They would often pass out in their beds without even getting under the covers properly, so after the hyungs went to bed, the maknaes went around tucking them in. They would take care of their scattered shoes and bags and the dishes left in the sink, and the hyungs would wake up with little memory of the night before. 

 

Practice was beginning to get a little rough as well, the hyungs still tried to stay away from their old habits, and for the most part they succeeded. They weren’t, however, able to keep a closer eye on the maknaes and didn’t notice when Taehyung began to stay up singing and Jimin and Jungkook started practicing choreography with him. Hoseok started get a bit more snippy as the stress built, not as bad as before but it was noticeable, Namjoon was a bit more distant with all the responsibilities he was carrying, Yoongi was was struggling to stay happy and Jin was constantly exhausted. So the maknaes swallowed their complaints, they practiced their choreography hard to avoid Hobi’s sharp tongue, they took as much of Namjoon’s burden as they could, they subtly did things for Yoongi while avoiding him so as not to make him mad, and they took care of all of Jin’s chores.

 

By Thursday they had been doing it for nearly a week and they had a system down, they would sort out the chores and food for breakfast and dinner when the hyungs were still at their late night practice (they had different practice slots apart from the group practices), and once they were in bed, they would do some extra practice before sleeping themselves. They would wake up early to make sure they would be ready as soon as the hyungs were up and that the food would be set out. They occasionally would hang around in the kitchen together at night and  early mornings and talk about their day, they joked about their hyungs, teased each other about feelings and it was the most relaxed they were in a day.

 

They went to bed on Wednesday night at nearly 2am, the hyungs had come in at 11pm after practice and went to bed at around midnight. Jungkook’s eyes fly open as soon as he hears Hoseok’s slight snores, he quietly gets up and pads over to Hoseok’s bed, he softly wipes the sweat on his hyung’s forehead and brings up the blanket to cover him carefully. He shuffles out of the room and shuts the door quietly, he spots Jimin and Taehyung coming out of Namjoon, Jin and Yoongi’s room and raises his eyebrows in a silent question. 

 

“They’re tired, but ok I think,” Jimin whispers.

 

Jungkook grimaces and nods, together they head to living room. Jungkook automatically moves to shoes to move them away from the entrance, Taehyung grabs the bags that were haphazardly strewn across the living room and puts them back in their rightful places, Jimin slips into the kitchen and starts to do the dishes. Jungkook joins him in the kitchen in a little while and he begins to dry the wet dishes, eventually Taehyung appears and starts to stack them back into the cupboards. It’s closing in on 1am when they finish up with the leftover chores and they stand in the living room for minute.

 

“So, practice?” Taehyung runs his hand through his hair.

 

“Yeah,” Jungkook lets out a breath, “Practice.”

 

“Chin up, we don’t have it as bad as our hyungs, and we still have each other,” Jimin squeezes their shoulders. 

 

They nod and head to their room, shut the door carefully, and begin to practice the choreography, first with headphones to practice their moves individually and then without the music to practice their synchronisation. After that, they open Taehyung’s closet, where instead of his clothes (which were in Jimin’s closet), there was a pillow and blanket fortress, the closet door was lined with multiple old sheets, it was their comfort space and also the closest they could get to a soundproof room, in there they practiced their singing and at 2am they decide to go to bed. They had dragged the two mattresses on the floor together and they slept together. 

 

Jimin lets out a whine as the sound of his alarm greets his ears alerting the time as 5am, he sighs and rolls onto his side, slapping the alarm clock next to his head. He lies in bed for all of half a minute before pushing himself up, he pads around the room gathering his things and takes a quick shower. He silently enters the room again, his hair wet, and gently shakes Jungkook. The maknae blinks slightly disoriented and focuses on Jimin’s face, he hums,

 

“I’ll wake TaeTae hyung after I shower,” Jungkook murmurs

 

Jimin smiles softly, “Thanks, I’ll go set breakfast.”

 

Jungkook quietly goes to the shower while Jimin heads to the kitchen. Carefully he opens the cupboard and brings out the bowls to put on the table, he sets the table first and at 5:45am, Jungkook silently enters the kitchen,

 

“TaeTae hyung just went to shower, do you need any help hyungie?” Jungkook whispers.

 

“Thanks, maybe just help reheat some of the food?” Jimin’s eyes crinkle into his famous eye smile.

 

They worked in comfortable silence and Taehyung joined them around 5:55am,

 

“Thanks for letting me sleep in,” He murmured

 

“Of course” They replied in unison causing Taehyung to giggle.

 

Jimin glances at the time,

 

“We should eat now, the hyungs will be getting up in five minutes and getting ready, they’ll eat and we’ll go.”

 

Jungkook grabbed three bowls that he had set aside for them with food, they sat down on the kitchen floor and began stuffing their faces in silence, they here a door open and they know that the hyungs have begun to get ready. They quickly finish up and take care of their dishes, one by one the hyungs head to the table, first Namjoon, then Hoseok, then Jin and then Yoongi. The hyungs sit around the table and the maknaes stand to the side for a moment to make sure everything was alright, as soon as Yoongi takes his first bite they move to the living room. Jin’s head shoots up, Namjoon’s following, Yoongi and Hoseok frown and put their chopsticks back down,

 

“Aren’t you eating?” Jin called out

 

The maknae line startle and turn around, 

 

“Oh, erm- no- I mean, we already ate hyung, just now, before you came,” Taehyung explains haltingly.

 

Their frowns get deeper, but they don’t protest, “Oh, ok, uh-”

 

“Right then, we’ll just - oh,” Jimin answers his ringing phone and moves into the living room, but still in the visibility of the table, “Manager hyung?” 

 

Jungkook and Taehyung exchange a look and follow him, to the confusion of the hyungs,

 

“What? Oh-oh that yes,” Jimin raises his eyebrows at Jungkook shrugs sheepishly, “Are you sure?” Jimin and Taehyung have a conversation through eyebrow gestures, “Of course hyung, and- mhm,” Jimin nods at Taehyung and Jungkook, “ No problem hyung, and does Namjoon hyung- ah ok,” Jimin throws a thumbs up at Taehyung and Jungkook who pump their fists, Namjoon looks confused at the mention of his name, “Mhm, sure, I’ll call him right now, thank you hyung!” Jimin pulls the phone away, Jungkook cuts in before the hyungs can ask what that was about,

 

“Sooo?” 

 

“What do you mean sooo? You know exactly what happened, why didn’t you warn me in advance?” Jimin grumbles with a slight smile.

 

“He probably forgot all about it,” Taehyung snorts.

 

Jungkook pouts but doesn’t deny it, Jimin brings his phone up again, presumably calling the person he promised to call earlier,

 

“Ah good morning teacher, I was calling to let you know about- ah, you already knew?” Jimin rolls his eyes at Jungkook who blushes, “Yes, manager hyung just confirmed it, mhm, ah, thank you so much, that means a lot,” Jimin puts his phone in his pocket, he looks at the other two and throws his hands the air and whoops.

 

Jungkook laughs and Taehyung joins him, “Fine, I’ll give you this one Kookie-ah! You did good.”

 

“Didn’t I? I’m proud, is that weird?” Jungkook beams.

 

Jimin laughs and ruffles his hair and Taehyung kisses him on the cheek, “Nah, you could never be weird to us.”

 

The hyungs are still groggy, but they’re pretty sure something is up and they were about to ask when Jimin speaks up,

 

“So manager hyung said he’d talk to Joonie hyung, but we have to leave now.”

 

“Good thing we’re all set then,” Taehyung said dryly,

 

“Great come on! Bye hyungs!” Jungkook directs the last part to the table and the other two echo similar sentiments before they leave in a flurry.

 

“Wai- but-wha- I don’t underst-wait-” their protests overlap and come out far too late as the front door shuts behind the maknae line.

Namjoon’s phone starts to ring and he answers, “Manager hyung? The kids just left, what’s-oh, ok, I see, mhm, no that’s alright, thank you hyung.” He puts down his phone.

 

“So? What just happened?” Jin asks impatiently.

 

“Apparently Jungkook must have spoken with manager hyung, the kids are going to practice in the morning and then we’ll go in at around 2pm for our practice, and they’ll be free after 2pm, we have no schedule until 2pm,” Namjoon says with a hint of relief.

 

“Hmm, they must have wanted some free time to relax too, good thing they asked,” Yoongi picks up his chopstick again.

 

“At least we get something out of it too huh?” Hoseok jokes. 

 

“We’ll probably be coming back late, but at least we have half a day off, I’m going to go take a nap, will it be like this tomorrow?” Jin looks at Namjoon.

 

“Yes, it will, and after Friday our schedules won’t be as packed,” He confirms. 

 

The hyungs grin and finish their food before going to make use of their free time. Meanwhile the maknae line are practicing over in the studio, feeling happy with their successful negotiations. They only stop at 12pm for lunch and they discuss their plans for when they get back to the dorms,

 

“We can probably finish up all the extra chores and do some in advance,” Jungkook twirls his chopsticks.

 

“Hmm, yeah, we can cook something nicer too,” Taehyung agrees.

 

“I can probably do some extra things because we have more time, don’t you two want some free time for yourselves? You haven’t been able to go on a date in forever,” Jimin furrows his eyebrows.

 

“Don’t be stupid,” Taehyung scoffs, “We aren’t going to let you do everything by yourself, besides, Kookie and I spend a lot of quality time together, and it doesn’t matter if you’re there!”

 

“Yeah, I like talking to all of you, unless you’re trying to say you don’t like our company hyung,” Jungkook teases.

 

Jimin sticks out his tongue, “Of course I like your company, I just thought you might appreciate some alone time is all.”

 

“Maybe later, we’re fine with this, I don’t care, at least we can still spend time together, and besides, we can’t leave you alone to drown in your pining misery,” Taehyung jokes.

 

“Ugh,” Jimin drops his head onto his arms, “Not funny! Of all the people I could have chosen to have a crush on,” He whines.

 

“And not just one person, you’ve gone and fallen for both halves of a couple, you never do anything halfway huh?” Jungkook laughs.

 

“Stop laughing at my pain, this is tragic, you don’t understand, I don’t know which is worse, liking someone in a relationship, or liking both of the people in a relationship with each other,” Jimin’s muffled voice complains.

 

Taehyung laughs too, “Alright, come on Romeo, we only have two more hours of practice!”

 

Jimin groans and gets up and they head back to practice rooms to finish up for the day. Finally it’s 2pm and they head into the locker rooms. They are so deep in their conversation that they don’t even notice their hyungs entering as they are about to exit,

 

“I feel attacked, this isn’t fair, I didn’t choose to suffer,” Jimin complains as adjusts his bag not noticing Yoongi and Hoseok walking in slightly confused at the statement.

 

“Honestly, I think it’s just your luck, your heart’s too big hyungie,” Jungkook pats Jimin on the back while keeping his own back to the door.

 

“He’s right you know, and  _ we _ are going to be late, it’s already 2:15, the hyungs are going to be here any minute,” Taehyung closes his locker, Jin and Namjoon are about to greet them to say that they are, in fact, already there, when Jungkook continues,

 

“So we’re not going to wait for them then? And we’ll be walking back?”

 

“I told manager hyung he could just stay here since it would be easier for everyone, and we’re used to walking,” Jimin says walking towards the exit.

 

Hoseok is about to say something, both to alert the maknaes of their presence, but also to say they can just take the car back, but Taehyung jumps in first,

 

“You just want to walk to clear your head and pretend you’re in some dramatic romance movie,” He teases much to confusion of the hyungs.

 

Jimin groans, “Stop bullying me!”

 

Taehyung and Jungkook chortle, “Okay, okay, you’re lucky I wanted to go for a walk anyway, also, do we need to check the practice room again? I think Hobi hyung will be headed to the dance room first.”

 

Jimin and Jungkook halt in their tracks much to the bemusement of Hobi, “Umm, I’m pretty sure we cleared everything,” Jungkook shoots an uncertain glance at Jimin who frowns.

 

“Yeah, I think so, there is a 99% chance we won’t get in trouble,” Jimin rubs his chin in thought. Hoseok frowns behind them.

 

“And what about that 1%?” Taehyung raises his eyebrow.

 

Jungkook shrugs, “It’s hyung I guess, we’re never sure?” Hoseok’s frown deepens and Yoongi looks at him questioningly only receiving a shrug of confusion.

 

“Hmm, maybe I should check the mirrors again,” Jimin’s fingers twitch.

 

Jungkook snorts, “You polished them brand new hyung, you just want to be a teacher’s pet, not that I’m blaming you, I see where you’re going with this!”

 

Jimin yelps “Yah! Stop it!”

 

“Well, I know we cleared all evidence of our existence from the recording studios, so we’re safe from Joonie hyung and Yoongi hyung, and I don’t think Hobi hyung or Jin hyung will have anything to say about the dance studios,” Taehyung concludes, the hyungs exchange bewildered glances. 

 

“Hobi hyung may have something to say about our dancing though,” Jungkook jokes and Hoseok’s face looks affronted.

 

“Ugh, don’t even remind me, I almost broke my ankle while trying to perfect that 20 second mark,” Jimin grimaces.

 

“He did, he wasn’t even that bad to begin with, but we were worried about our angling, I couldn’t stand up for ten minutes,” Jungkook explains to Taehyung.

 

“Honestly, if you two have that much to work on, I don’t even want to show hyung my dancing,” Taehyung shudders.

 

“You’re not bad, you made a lot of progress, Hobi’s just worried because we’re part of the dance line, but I get where you’re coming from, I hated having to rap next to Yoongi hyung,” Jungkook admits and Yoongi’s jaw drops. 

 

Jimin huffs, “You think that was bad, imagine how I felt singing anything written by him in front of him!”

 

“Yah, we have to do that everytime with Joonie-hyung too, Jungkook and I were sweating buckets in the studio,” Taehyung slaps Jimin’s shoulder lightly, and Namjoon gapes.

 

“Although I suppose performing Yoongi hyung’s ones  _ would _ be more nerve wracking for Minnie hyung especially,” Jungkook grins knowingly

 

“Poor Jimin, he suffers anxiety no matter if he sings for Yoongi or dances for Hobi, his only mild relief is singing songs produced by Joonie hyung or someone else,” Taehyung pats Jimin’s head.

 

Yoongi and Hoseok exchange confused and slightly worried looks.

 

“Yah! Leave me alone! This isn’t fair! Aren’t we supposed to go now? Wait Kookie, did you clean your locker? Jinnie-hyung will kill you if you didn’t!”

 

“Damn, wait, no, wait, I did, god, don’t give me heart attacks like that,” Jungkook takes a deep breath and Jin furrows his eyebrows.

 

“He just wants to change the subject, he’s only 65% scared of Jinnie hyung, he’s too busy worrying about Hobi-hyung and Yoongi-hyung,” Taehyung teases.

 

Their laughs and Jimin’s grumbles fade away as they leave the locker room leaving four confused and mildly worried hyungs in their wake, the last thing they hear is Jungkook’s voice floating back faintly,

 

“Let’s go the long way, now I’m too scared to run into the hyungs, you meanies, I swear if they find anything wrong I might actually cry…” 

 

They look at each other, stunned,

 

“Ok, what just happened?” Yoongi demands.

 

“So apparently we scare our maknaes more than we thought,” Namjoon scratches his head.

 

“I’m not scary right? I only wanted Kookie to organize a bit more, I wouldn’t have scolded him or something!” Jin huffs and crosses his arms.

 

“Can we talk about why my dance line are so worried about me that they almost injured themselves while practicing?” Hoseok cuts in.

 

“While we’re on that line, why is Jimin so scared of us in particular?” Yoongi grumbles.

“Can I just point out that they were low key scared of all of us, TaeTae said he removed ‘all evidence of their existence from the recording studios’, as though the thought of them would make us angry or something,” Namjoon points out.

 

“Not to mention they were clearly terrified to perform anything produced by any of you,” Jin frowns. 

 

“Brilliant, we obviously need to sort out some issues here,” Yoongi sighs.

 

“Tomorrow,” Hoseok says firmly, “We’ll be too late tonight, they’ll be asleep, but we can come back earlier tomorrow, before dinner time, we can talk then.”

 

They agreed and went to their practices, the worry niggling at the back of their minds the entire time. At 11pm they pack up their belongings from the studios they were in, getting ready to leave. Hoseok hesitates before leaving the room, he remembers how spotless it had looked when he had come in, realizing that the maknaes had been doing this each time they left a studio, he frowns knowing that he hasn’t done as good a job as them but knowing that shouldn’t have been that worried to go so overboard in the first place. Yoongi is in the midst of putting back the equipment from his preferred arrangement to the usual arrangement when he suddenly realizes that it had been waiting for him in just the way only he ever kept it. He realizes that the maknaes must have reset it for him each time they left a studio they knew Yoongi would be using next. Jin shuts his locker with a pout as he eyes the mess in his locker, Jungkook should have known that Jin wasn’t being that serious, but then he thinks of all the times the maknaes had followed his instructions perfectly, whether he meant it or not. Namjoon grabs his dead phone from the table and is about to turn off the lights when he stops to stare at the recording booth, he thinks back to the times he recorded his songs with the maknae line and wonders why he never noticed their nerves, why he never complimented them enough when they were done. 

 

The ride back is quiet and the manager’s eyes flick to them slightly confused but guesses they must be tired. He wasn’t entirely wrong, Namjoon supposes, still, they walk up the stairs morosely and kick off their shoes haphazardly at the entrance and drop their bags all over the place without much thought, too tired to focus on their actions. They reluctantly drag themselves to the table where the find a nice dinner set out, the dishes closed to keep the warmth. There was a thank you note in the middle and the hyungs vaguely wonder who had given them this dinner but don’t ponder on it too long. They eat quickly and drop their plates in the sink to do them tomorrow and stumble into their rooms, collapsing on their beds without even getting under the covers. 

 

Before the hyungs had come back however, the maknaes were busy with chores from the moment they arrived back at the dorm. As it approached dinner time their phones pinged with a message, and the specialized ringtone they set for the Maknaes United chat sounded out, Jungkook calls out to the other two from his position in the kitchen, 

 

“Can one of you tell me what’s up, I can’t get my phone yet!”

  
  


_ Maknaes United _

**sannie:** [img.png]

**sannie:** so i may have sprained my wrist on mon nite

**sannie:** i didnt tell n e 1 but its killing me rn

**sannie:** wht do i do

**sannie:** i don wanna tll hyungs

 

Jimin gapes at his phone, “Oh my god, is he serious? He sprained his wrist on Monday night and he didn’t tell anyone, and he still doesn’t want to go to his hyungs!”

 

_ Maknaes United _

**chimmie:** it’s thurs nite rn you fool

**teayungie:** smh chim also omg sannie ur arm looks terrible

**teayungie:** we’re cookin rn so kooks cant type

 

“Tell him to try ice and like ointment or something,” Jungkook suggests.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**chimmie:** he said try ice + ointment

**channie:** try some painkillers

**yugsie:** ^ careful about how u sleep

**bammie:** dont crush your arm

**kyunnie:** dont strain it 2 much

**sannie:** thx <3

**channie:** np i was just practicing anyway

 

“Hey Kookie-ah, I just finished laundry, I can finish up the cooking, take a break,” Taehyung wanders into the kitchen, and Jungkook accepts the offer and grabs his phone from the counter seeing the last message,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kookie:** @ this hr?

**channie:** new choreo’s out 2 get me #_# 

**channie:** xtra practice fr me #imded

**yugsie:** @kookie wht happened to cookin?

**kookie:** takin a break, tae just finished laundry so he took over

**sannie:** i thot jin-hyung does that?

 

Jimin sighs from where he was setting the table, “How do they even remember our chore list?” 

 

_ Maknaes United _

**chimmie:** hyungs r busy so we helpin 

**kyunnie:** @channie dont overwork urself 

**channie:** *salutes*

**bammie:** @sannie why dont u wanna tll ur hyungs???

**yugsie:** yeh isnt tht easier????

**sannie:** it’s stupid but im 2 scared

**sannie:** like i dont wanna burden them 

**kookie:** u rite it is stupid

**chimmie:** smh they not gonna break up w/you cos u hurt ur arm

**kyunnie:** where is the logic???

**bammie:** ur thot process is insane

**channie:** who wuld brk up w/ someone cos they got injured???

**yugsie:** ur making me scared of relationship standards smh

**sannie:** stop bashing me :( ik it’s stupid ic help it

**sannie:** just dont tell them

**chimmie:** fine *silent disapproval*

**kookie:** fiinnee *agrees only cause ur my hyung*

**kyunnie:** ok *lowkey judging you*

**channie:** *reluctantly salutes in agreement*

**yugsie:** u makin it worse but ok 

**bammie:** u stupid but fine

**sannie:** the shade tho O.o

**sannie:** @tae??

**kookie:** cooking

**sannie:** hmm, fine, bye

 

“Umm we’re not letting this go right?” Jimin flops onto the sofa.

 

“Of course not, I’m already messaging Hakyeon-sunbaenim,” Taehyung snorts.

 

_ Taehyung > Hakyeon-sunbaenim _

**Taehyung:** is this Hakyeon-sunbaenim from VIXX?

**Taehyung:** this is Taehyung (V) from BTS btw

**Hakyeon-sunbaenim:** ahh yes, this is Hakyeon, u can just call me hyung

**Hakyeon-sunbaenim:** what can I help u with?

**Taehyung:** so sannie-hyung just sent us something in our groupchat

**Taehyung:** he told us not 2 tell any of u n im the only who didn’t promise

**Taehyung:** so we agreed that im the who would tell u cause u need 2 kno

**Taehyung:** [screenshot.png]

**Taehyung:** [screenshot(1).png]

**Taehyung:** [screenshot(2).png]

 

“Exposed and done,” Taehyung grins with satisfaction. 

 

“Now we just wait for the fireworks,” Jimin laughs

 

And sure enough, after some time had passed by they got another message,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**sannie:** @teayungie you sly fox i shud be mad @ all of u

 

The three of them burst into laughter,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**teayungie:** but u arent cos we’re rite

**kyunnie:** n u <3 us

**yugsie:** mwah

**chimmie:** so what did they do???

**bammie:** ^ spill the tea

**channie:** how sweet were they??

**kookie:** ^^ ;)

 

“I guess everyone expected us to do it,” Jungkook smirks,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**sannie:** they told me that i’ll never be a burden and to come to them for anything

**sannie:** then they helped me w/ my hand n fed me dinner even though they didn’t have to

**chimmie:** *squeeee* my heart 

**teayungie:** omg you better thank me for this 

**kookie:** y r u d only 1 in a relationship here smh

**bammie:** my heart is fluttering on your behalf????

**yugsie:** thats??? so soft??? #jealous

**kyunnie:** happy for u but lowkey jealous smh

**channie:** ^ i want a bf 2 ;_;

**sannie:** i <3 u all n i can set u up if you wanted ;)

 

Sannie goes offline, and they are about to put aside their phones when another message comes in,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** does any1 kno where 2 buy cheap shoes???

**kyunnie:** mine are worn out n i dont have much $$ 

**yugsie:** smh what did u buy???

**kyunnie:** i accidentally knocked over a lady doing groceries so i paid for it all

**kyunnie:** and bought her xtra ramen to say sorry

“That’s so him,” Jungkook mutters,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kookie:** cos nothing says sry like instant noodles

**chimmie:**  omg

**bammie:** smh

**channie:** how bad r ur shoes??

**kyunnie:** [img.png]

**channie:** 0.o they look as bad as i feel smh

**channie:** try this place: [location]

**channie:** why don’t u ask your hyungs tho???

**kyunnie:** id feel bad tho :( they already do so much fr me

**channie:** ….lame but ok

 

“Umm, should we say anything?” Jungkook asks.

 

“I have a feeling that Channie will take care of it,” Taehyung says confidently

 

They start to finish up on other assorted chores and their phone pings once again,

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kyunnie:** channie you sneaky little brat

**channie:** <3 u 2 hyung

**bammie:** omg whut

**yugsie:** wht just happened

**kyunnie:** this one just sent Hyunwoo-hyung a screenshot about my shoes

**chimmie:** @tae u started this

**teayungie:** im so proud of u channie

**kookie:** lolol so they spoke to u then???

**kyunnie:** yes it was v sweet

**kyunnie:** @sannie when u wake up… tell me how u knew u liked more than 1 person

 

“WAIT!” They exclaim in surprise at the last message, 

 

_ Maknaes United _

**chimmie:** OMG DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE

**bammie:** WAIT WHAT

**channie:** WHOMST 

**yugsie:** WAIT OMG U LIKE MORE THAN 1 PERSON

**kookie:** 0w0

**teayungie:** IS IT ALL YOUR MEMBERS??

**kyunnie:**  NO WHTA ITS ONLY 2 PEOPLE

**kyunnie:** IDEK FOR SURE

**channie:** IT’S HYUNGWON HYUNG AND HOSEOK HYUNG ISNT IT???

**kyunnie:** HOW???

 

“How does he not know?!?!?” Taehyung yelps

 

_ Maknaes United _

**teayungie:** OMG CHANGKYUNN

**kyunnie:** STOP SCREAMING AT ME I STILL HAVE TO EAT DINNER W/ THEM

**chimmie:** omg you’re totally in love smh

**kookie:** this is not entirely unexpected tbh

**yugsie:** tru

**bammie:** shud hv seen it coming

**kyunnie:** WHAT? Y U NO TELL ME???

**channie:** it’s your feelings tho???

**kyunnie:** smh i gtg for dinner now

 

“Wow, that boy is ridiculous, he should just go for it,” Jimin huffs.

 

“That’s rich coming from you,” Taehyung teases.

 

“Is today attack Jimin day or something?” Jimin rolls his eyes.

 

Jungkook laughs, “Come on, we should probably finish eating now too.”

 

After they finish eating and cleaning up, it’s about 11pm and Jimin is struck by a thought,

 

“I think I’m going to send a message to Hyunwoo hyung anyway, just to make sure they don’t mess things up with Kyunnie again, that kid is too nice for his own good.”

 

Jungkook and Taehyung agree and so they send him a message from Jimin’s phone,

 

_ Jimin > Hyunwoo hyung _

**Jimin:** this is hyunwoo hyung from MX right?

**Jimin:** this is jimin’s phone it’s jungkook taehyung and jimin 

**Jimin:** im pretty sure Chanwoo already spoke2 u

**Jimin:** n we know u already spoke 2 kyunnie

**Jimin:** so we’re just gonna tell u 2 be careful abt how u treat ur maknae

**Jimin:** n then we won’t have to bother you :)

**Jimin:** have a good night :)

 

They clear up and they head to their beds around the time they know their hyungs would be coming in. Sure enough, they hear the front door open and shut less than ten minutes after they had gotten into bed. They wait quietly, temporarily relieving their muscles as they wait for their hyungs to get to bed. And so it begins again, the maknae line make their rounds and silently clean up after their hyungs, they finish at 1am and decide to forego extra practice tonight in favor of leaving to the studios earlier. Jungkook still joins Taehyung and Jimin in their room. The next day they wake up at 4am and set the food before leaving to the studio, they planned to be in the building by 5am. They left a small note on the table explaining that they had left early in case the hyungs wondered about them and then they left in silence. This time the hyungs don’t cross paths with the maknaes when they leave and the hyungs arrive. As usual, they get straight to work once their at the dorm and at around 3pm, just 30 minutes after they got back they get a message.

_ Maknaes United _

**yugsie:** im booorrred

**sannie:** wheres @bammie

**yugsie:** @ private schedule

**kyunnie:** im @ practice :(

 

“I think he’s lonely we can’t leave him like that,” Jungkook pouts.

 

“We don’t have too much to do now actually, just dinner, we can do that at around 5 or 6, the hyungs won’t come back till late anyway,” Taehyung says.

 

“Good idea, we can play online together,” Jimin snaps his fingers.

 

_ Maknaes United _

**kookie:** come online n play w/ me, chimmie hyung and tae-tae hyung

**channie:** oohh can i join??

**chimmie:** sure we hv to go 2 mke dinner @5-6ish tho

**teayungie:** when does bammie get back?

**yugsie:** around 6

**channie:** i can stay till then (^.^) i have dinner @6

**sannie:** ahh have fun u guys i still have to rest my arm -_-

**chimmie:** that’s probs ur fault smh

**sannie:** dont @ me

 

They leave the game at 5:30, apologizing to Yugyeom and Chanwoo, but they’re glad that Chanwoo at least was still there with Yugyeom. They go to the kitchen deciding to cook together or at least hang around the kitchen talking if nothing else, they started to blast music through Taehyung’s phone and they danced around the kitchen while cooking.

 

Meanwhile, the hyungs get ready to leave at around 6pm, planning to get back at 6:30. They quickly grab their belongings and head for the car where their manager was waiting for them. They settle in and Namjoon takes out his phone, realizing he had left it off the whole day. He turns it on, and as soon as it connects to service, his phone blings with messages from the leader chat. He frowns and opens it,

  
  
  


_ Oblivious w/ a hint of ignorance _

**hyunwoo:** @hanbin ur maknae is terrifying 

**hyunwoo:**  he just let me kno that kyunnie was still guilty which we just had a talk about

**hyunwoo:** he also threatened me if i hurt him

**hanbin:** omg

**hyunwoo:** but there’s something else about the messages he sent in the gc u shud c

**hyunwoo:** [screenshot.png]

**hakyeon:** which reminds me

**hakyeon:** taehyung sent me a message earlier, sannie had sprained his arm but didn’t tell us

**hakyeon:** so taehyung sent a screenshot, im pretty sure something’s off w/ the other kids 2

**hakyeon:** [screenshot.png]

**hakyeon:** [screenshot1.png]

**hakyeon:** [screenshot2.png]

**hyunwoo:** nvm all your maknaes are scary tbh

**hyunwoo:** they all sent me the same screenshot n threatened me like Chanwoo

**hyunwoo:** im glad their friends tho

**hyunwoo:** ig you’re aall asleeeep now wwhooopsi

**jaebum:** omg hyunwoo-ah did u type half asleep???

**_hyunwoo left_ **

**_hanbin added hyunwoo_ **

**hyunwoo:** leave me to die

**hakyeon:** haha

**hyunwoo:** omg there are sunbaenims in this gc

**_hyunwoo left_ **

**_hakyeon added hyunwoo_ **

**hyunwoo:** _ GOODBYE WORLD _

**hakyeon:** relax kid

**hyunwoo:** @kihyuuniee n-sunbaenim just called me a kid nobody calls me kid now, what do i do

**hyunwoo:** and this is the wrong gc ofc 

**hanbin:** istg if u leave 1 more time i will hunt u down

**hyunwoo:** O.o

**hakyeon:** u r a kid accept my affection

**hyunwoo:** umm im-

**hakyeon: ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡**

**hyunwoo:** umm sunbaenim-

**hakyeon:** i demand you call me hyung

**hanbin:** u better accept it im jealous 

**hakyeon:** hanbin u kyuutie u can call me hyung too (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

**hanbin:** i take it back this is so scary omg

**hyunwoo:** ikr?!?

**jaebum:** yall r hilarious

**jaebum:** i just had a talk with my maknae btw miscommunication sucks but we’re making prgrss

**hanbin:** happy for u sunbaenim

**jaebum:** omg no dont do that wth call me hyung... wait how old r u???

**hanbin: ‘** 96 liner

**hakyeon:** you’re one year  _ younger _ than my maknae omg

**hanbin:** umm sorry???

**hakyeon:** wth no this is precious omg c’mere child (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

**hanbin:** ummm wait hyunwooo hyung how old r u???

**hyunwoo:** 92 soz kid ur the same age as my maknae

**hanbin:** am i the youngest here?????

**jaebum:** yes lol how does feel 2 b d maknae? xD

**hanbin:** o.o

**hanbin:** n E wAys

**hanbin:** thx for the pics btw channie was exhausting himself again but we stopped him in time

**hakyeon:** lol glad i could help kid

**hyunwoo:** at least my humiliation served some purpose

**hakyeon:** omg stahp

**jaebum:** srsly ur gud

**jaebum:** wheres @ joonie??

**hanbin:** it says he’s still offline

**hyunwoo:** i dont think he’s seen the pics yet

**hakyeon:** u think he knows whats up w/ his kids??

**jaebum:** maybe??? 

**namjoon:** I just turned on my phone and saw the pictures

**namjoon:** dammit it I didn’t know they were doing the chores again too

**namjoon:** just some more things to talk about tonight

**hanbin:** r u ok sunbaenim???

**namjoon:** omg call me hyung kid

**hanbin:** not u too 

**namjoon:** so we overheard a conversation and it turns out that they are actually rlly scared of us

**namjoon:** like they worry about how well they clean and sing and rap and dance and etc.

**jaebum:** still??

**namjoon:** yeah, we were coming home early so we would have time to talk w/ them

**hakyeon:** ambush them it’s the only way

**hanbin:** ^^

**hyunwoo:** it’s the only thing that has worked

**namjoon:** ummm...ooo kaaayyy

**namjoon:** thanks for the advice we’re almost at the dorm now

**hanbin:** gl 

**hyunwoo:** ^^

**jaebum:** gooood luck

**hakyeon:** hwaiting

**hanbin:** i gtg i’ll be back l8r

**hanbin:** bye hyunwoo hyung...bye sunbaenims

**hyunwoo:** k c u l8r

**namjoon:** *cough* hyung *cough*

**jaebum:** exCUse mE that’s hYUNg to yOu

**hakyeon:** hyung **ヽ(ﾟｰﾟ*ヽ)** i said call me hyung  **(ﾉ*ﾟｰﾟ)ﾉ**

 

Namjoon snorts and puts away the phone, 

 

“Ok so, I have news, we are rubbish hyungs,” Namjoon announces

 

“What did we do now?” Jin groans.

 

“Apparently there have been issues with the other groups’ maknaes as well, except the maknaes have been exposing each other to get each other help, only they accidentally did it to themselves, so now we have a few screenshots of conversations from the maknaes’ group chat, and our kids have been doing the chores and cooking everything for us...again,” Namjoon rubs a hand over his face.

 

The car is silent then Yoongi huffs, “Of course they did.”

 

“And we didn’t notice because we’re ignorant idiots,” Hoseok thunks his head onto the window.

 

“Glad we’re on the same page, the leaders recommended that we ambush them and talk it out,” Namjoon rubs his hands together.

 

“Great, fine, at least we have a plan,” Jin mutters.

 

They hop out of the car as soon as it stops and rush up the stairs. They open the front door quietly and are met with the sound of music and laughter coming from the kitchen. They silently tiptoe to the kitchen and decide to observe the situation first by hiding in a blind spot where they can see the kitchen but the maknaes won’t see them.

 

“Wait-wai-imag-imagine if we actually did tha-that to our hyungs,” Taehyung chokes out between his laughter.

 

Jimin bows exaggeratedly, “Welcome home hyungs, no that’s fine leave your giant bags all over the damn house, it’s not a tripping hazard or anything, we’ll take care of it, tis our duty as the dongsaeng butlers,” 

 

Jin and Namjoon exchange grimaces and guilt pools into them as they recollect how they threw everything all over the place when they came back, and how they always seemed to magically appear neatly arranged the next morning.

 

Jungkook cackles from where he is stirring something in a pot, “That was amazing, you go hyung!”

 

“Ok, but let’s be real, Jiminie would never say that to Yoongi or Hobi,” Taehyung says while calming down.

 

“Shut the hell up, I can’t help my feelings,” Jimin pouts.

 

“We’re sorry, we swear, we can’t help it,” Jungkook looks almost apologetic.

 

Jimin rolls his eyes as the music changes and starts to play one of their newer songs and Jungkook groans,

 

“No, I did too much practice to enjoy this, I can  _ hear _ Hobi yelling at me!” 

 

Hoseok frowns, he didn’t mean to be that harsh.

 

“Ugh, you’re telling me, I literally cried after one practice session,” Jimin scoffs making Hoseok feel infinitely worse.

 

“Guys, oh my god, you’re already moving your feet to the choreo,” Taehyung giggles, and he was right.

 

Jimin and Jungkook halt immediately, “If only hyung could see us now,” Jungkook jokes.

 

“Don’t you dare, I am not mentally prepared for more criticism, I’m just having fun,” Jimin whines.

 

“Honestly Jiminie, I feel so bad for you, I mean dance line practices are no joke, like Hobi is literally ready to fight,” Taehyung pats Jimin on the shoulder.

 

“You have no idea, honestly if it were me, I would never be able to handle feeling like Jimin, I would have been crushed and then, like, forgot about it or something,” Jungkook confesses.

 

Hoseok frowns in sadness and confusion (his permanent mood today it seemed).

 

“Not to mention that Yoongi hyung gives out some of the most savage criticism you could possibly get, seriously Jimin, I feel like you just ask to be hurt,” Taehyung snorts.

 

Yoongi’s eyebrows furrow and he meets Hoseok’s eyes, they could tell what each other was thinking, they had been dating for over a year now and were in tune with each other, the last person they would ever want to hurt was Jimin. Although they hadn’t told him, they both cared about him very much, just as much as they cared about each other, and the thought of them hurting Jimin was unbearable.

 

“I can’t help it, have you seen them? I mean ok, they can be a bit harsh,” Jimin admits, adding to their guilt.

 

“A bit he says,” Taehyung mutters.

 

Jimin ignores him, “But, they’re so sweet and precious most of the time, and they care so much, and they really are just stressed, and I mean come on, how can anyone hate them?” 

 

They feel a bit warmth re-enter their chest at the words.

 

“You’re so whipped, honestly, doesn’t it just make dance practices worse?” Jungkook looks at Jimin skeptically.

 

“Well, yes,” Jimin admits and Hoseok is crushed once again, “I mean like, coming from them just makes everything feel like, ten times more amplified, so if they make me happy, then I’m flying, but if it’s a bad thing, then I kind of want to cry, you know?”

 

“Ah, my poor Jiminie, only you could fall in love with two people, who are already dating each other, and then suffer through their criticisms and love them anyway,” Taehyung draws Jimin in for a hug and Jimin huffs.

 

Yoongi and Hoseok freeze, Jimin had feelings for them. Both of them. Which was...great, it was great, because they both liked him, but not great, because apparently, they keep insulting him and hurting him. Yoongi wants to curse and Hoseok is about to cry. 

 

“I’m fine, besides, it’s not like dance practice doesn’t hurt Kookie either,” Jimin says.

 

Jungkook shrugs, “True, but honestly, I’m more stressed about when I practice production with Joonie-hyung, like, I know he doesn’t mean to be distant or anything, and he has a lot on his plate, but I never know if I’m doing the right thing, I was panicking so much the first time.”

 

Jimin switches place with Jungkook to give him a break from cooking. Namjoon drops his head to face the ground in despair.

 

“Hmm, yeah, I can see what you mean, personally I’m more worried about Jin says, but that might just be me, but he takes up a lot of responsibility and then he gets tired, and I hate not listening to him because I never know when he might snap,” Taehyung says.

 

Jin grimaces, he didn’t realize he had been so tired, he really just meant to help his maknaes, but apparently he didn’t convey that properly, and was too on edge. 

“But to be fair, I really feel bad for them, they have to do so much, they’re so tired when they come, they can’t even remember what they did with their shoes or bags, who’s chores were done, they can’t even get under the covers!” Jimin waves on hand around.

 

Namjoon frowns, because first, he could swear that he always woke up under the covers, and secondly, how they know how they slept?

 

“Which is why the least we can do is clear the living room, finish the chores and tuck them in,” Taehyung agrees and Namjoon gets his answer. Their cheeks color as they realize that the roles had once again been switched.

 

“We have free time on Sunday, we should bring them out for ice cream or something, maybe watch a movie here,” Jungkook suggests, and the hyungs melt at their thoughtfulness,

 

“Sure, but maybe we shouldn’t sleep in one room or Hobi-hyung might yell at you two again,” Taehyung laughs, Hoseok frowns again, why is he always yelling?

 

“What are you talking abo- ooohhh,” Jimin snorts, “Ok fair enough.”

 

“Ok but imagine if he didn’t have anything to say because we performed our choreography better in our sleep than we do awake,” Jungkook chuckles and Hoseok suddenly understands, their bodies were practicing even in sleep.

 

“That would be hilarious, wait, TaeTae, how good did we dance in our sleep?” Jimin calls out to Taehyung.

 

“The hell would I know? The two of you eggheads got up at 3 in the freaking morning and started dancing in sync, while giving me a heart attack, especially when I realized you weren’t even awake, I was like, ‘how do I get these dance machines to bed’, not ‘oh look their points are exactly at a 45 degree angle’, get real,” Taehyung huffs.

 

They stopped for a moment then exploded in laughter, 

 

“Ok, ok, the food is done, can someone help me set the table for the hyungs?” Jimin asks.

 

“Sure!” Taehyung and Jungkook chirp in unison, “Aww babe!”

 

“You two are so cute, I wish I had boyfriends, now I’m sad,” Jimin pouts and they laugh at him before grabbing the dishes for the table. 

 

Jimin carefully sets a large bowl of what smells like ramen on the table, and Jungkook and Taehyung place the bowls and chopsticks down on the table. It is in this moment, that they turn around to go back into the kitchen that they spot their four hyungs crouched next to a wall. They halt, and then they shriek, the hyungs flail and scramble and fall down before finally pushing themselves up as the maknae line stop yelling. 

 

“HYUNGS! Oh my god, how long have you  _ been _ there?” Jimin gasps.

 

“We came in like two minutes before our song started playing,” Namjoon says sheepishly.

 

Their eyes widen in horror, their hurried apologies and explanations overlap each other only serving to make the hyungs feel even more guilty. 

 

“No stop, wait! We aren’t mad at you!” Jin exclaims and they stop in confusion, “We, we’re worried about you! We ran into you in the locker room yesterday, we tried to tell you that were there but you didn’t notice us, and so we overheard you talking about how you were, well kind of scared of us.”

 

The maknae line try to protest but Yoongi cuts them off, “Don’t say that, you were scared, worried at least, we should have made it clear that we care about you and love you no matter what, we never should have made you feel like you should go to extreme measures for us to stay happy with you because we are always happy with you.”

 

“I-I never meant to be so hard on you during dance practices, I know you work hard, and I know you’ll always get it to perfection and I don’t need to yell at you for that, I-,” Hoseok chokes on his words and Jimin stretches out his arm before drawing it back in, it was barely noticeable if they weren’t looking for it, but they noticed now and they also caught the sad knowing looks that Jungkook and Taehyung shot him.

 

“Don’t worry about it hyung, really we’re ok, we know you’re proud of us and you mean well,” Jungkook says softly.

 

“But I made you  _ cry _ ,” Hoseok cries hysterically.

 

Jungkook scoffs, “No, you made  _ Jimin _ -hyung cry, there’s a difference, he cries at everything.”

 

“Yah! Where’s the respect?” Jimin yelps looking affronted, but they know they’re just hiding the truth, the real reason why Jimin cried when Jungkook didn’t.

 

“I called you hyung didn’t I?” Jungkook sassed.

 

“Taehyung, control your man,” Jimin whined.

 

“Jungkook, don’t tease Jimin, he doesn’t need that right now,” Taehyung defended loyally.

 

“Fine,” Jungkook pouts.

“Whipped,” Jimin chortles.

 

“Ahem,” Jin clears his throat.

 

“Look, we got a message from Hakyeon, apparently you sent a screenshot about Sanghyuk, but it came with messages from you guys as well, we know you’ve been taking up the chores and everything again,” Namjoon tries to bring the discussion back on track.

 

The maknaes grow wary, “Hyung, it was just a couple of chores, it wasn’t anything  _ major _ ,” Taehyung tries to protest.

 

“Are you sure? Because I don’t think a single one of us has done any of our chores for the past week, we didn’t even do our dishes after dinner or put our shoes or bags away properly, but they were always in place the next morning,” Yoongi cuts in.

 

The maknae line exchange grimaces and Hoseok asks softly, “What time do you go to sleep?”

 

“Hyung…” Jimin sighs at Hoseok’s eyes, he could never say no, “We umm, we sleep around 2am.”

 

They nod as if they expected this, “And what time do you wake up?” 

 

“Umm, well, Jimin hyung wakes up first at 5, then he wakes me up at 5:15ish, then I wake TaeTae hyungie at 5:30ish, then we set up the table and finish eating so we can leave once you’re ready,” Jungkook lists.

 

The hyungs look like they expected it but were still devastated anyway, “Look, we know that things get busy sometimes, and you do so much to care of us, and we appreciate it so much, all we’re saying is, at least let us take care of you too. Don’t keep everything to yourselves, please,” Namjoon pleads.

 

“We understand if you want to help us out, you don’t have to, but you do, and we appreciate it, but don’t do it at the expense of yourselves,” Yoongi tries to emphasize.

 

“We’re here for you too, you’re allowed to complain to us you know, it doesn’t have to get to the worst possible situation for you to talk to us,” Hoseok states.

 

“We’ll make a plan together, so that none of us are overworked like this again, not us and not you, would that work better?” Jin looks at them shrewdly.

 

They exchange glances, “I mean-I guess- only if it’s for both of us,” Jimin says hesitantly.

 

“Great! So how about we eat dinner and then work on it tomorrow huh?” Namjoon shoots a grateful smile to Jin who just waves him off.

 

They agree and for the first time in a week, they sit down to have a meal together. It was a bit silent at first but soon enough their joking around and teasing each other as they eat and make fun of their appearances and habits in good fun. It was starting to feel like normal again. Except for one thing, Jimin was subtly, but most definitely, ignoring Yoongi and Hoseok. It was well done, barely noticeable, and clearly took a lot of practice and it hurt to know that they had pushed him away that far. So after dinner, before Jimin can collect the dishes, Jin cuts in saying he’ll take care of it and Yoongi grabs Jimin by the wrist and drags him to Hoseok’s room, with Hoseok following close behind.

 

Hoseok shuts the door behind them and locks it before turning to where Jimin was standing in the middle of the room with Yoongi still holding his wrist. Jimin’s eyes flitted around the room nervously and he sweeps his hair back with his free hand in that famous habit of his, completely missing how their eyes darkened. 

 

“Hyungs? What are you-what’s this abo-” Jimin frowns suddenly before panic overcomes his features, “Is-is this about what I said in the kitchen? About my feelings? If it is we don’t need to go over this, really just forget about it, I was just-I mean I-mpff” Yoongi puts his other hand over Jimin’s mouth.

 

“Would you listen to us for a moment? Look I this isn’t about what you said, I mean it kind of is, but, no listen,  _ please, _ ” Yoongi pleads, his eyes wide and Jimin’s eyes flick over to Hoseok who’s giving him the same look, so he stops moving and nods. 

 

Yoongi slowly takes off his hand and steps back, Hoseok speaks up, “Two weeks ago you bought us stuffed animals,” he blurts.

 

“Last week you brought us out for a carnival and brought us on a dozen ride.” Yoongi states.

 

“You bought me and Yoongi personalized souvenirs from Busan.”

 

“You bought Hoseok new shoes and got me a pair of headphones.”

 

“You made Yoongi coffee every morning.”

 

“You gave Hoseok a leg massage whenever he needed one.”

 

“You sat down in the studio and gave Yoongi encouragement whenever he needed it.”

 

“You dragged Hoseok back every time he tried to practice too much.” 

 

“And every single time after you helped us,”

 

“You sent us back to each other,”

 

“And then you left,” They say the last sentence together softly. 

 

Jimin can feel the tears build in his eyes because he didn’t know that they noticed him, didn’t know that cared and appreciated it this much, but they weren’t finished.

 

“You gave us every part of you Jiminie,” Yoongi’s words are soft.

 

“But you never waited for us to do the same for you,” Hoseok smiles sadly.

 

Jimin inhales sharply and steps back, “What? Hyungs, I don’t, what are you, what do you mean?”

 

“Yoongi and I have feelings for you Jimin-ah,” Hoseok whispers.

 

“We want you with us Jiminie,” Yoongi adds.

 

“We want you to  _ stay _ ,” They say together.

 

Jimin gapes and shakes his head, he backs himself into a wall, “You, both of you- no, there’s no way, if this is- if you’re-”

 

“We’re serious Jiminie,” Yoongi steps closer.

 

“We want you in our relationship, if you’ll have us,” Hoseok ducks his head nervously. 

 

Jimin is still gaping, “What, me? I- of course I want you but I-”

 

And Yoongi has had enough so he surges forward and kisses Jimin where he is, Jimin freezes before his eyes fall shut and he kisses back. His lungs are burning and suddenly Yoongi is gone and Hoseok is in front of him,

 

“My turn,” He murmurs hoarsely and Jimin’s eyes fall shut once more as Hoseok presses his lips onto Jimin’s.

 

Back in the living room, Jungkook and Taehyung look down the corridor amusedly, 

 

“Guess I’m still sleeping with you tonight,” Jungkook shoots a look at Taehyung.

 

“Looks like Jimin managed to get us that alone time after all,” Taehyung snorts.

 

Jungkook laughs, “Come on, let’s go.” Taehyung shrieks as Jungkook picks him up bridal style and walks them to Taehyung’s room.

 

Namjoon watches them go bemused, “Is tonight couple’s night or something?”

 

Jin whacks him with a dish towel, “Let them be, and besides you should be happy, honestly don’t I please you anymore? You can sleep on the couch tonight!”

 

Namjoon’s eyes widen in panic and he rushes after Jin who was heading back to the kitchen, “Babe no wait! I didn’t mean it like that!”

 

Jin laughs at him when he trips over air on to the kitchen floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this also turned out way longer than I meant it to, and apparently I can't keep myself from giving people boyfriends, I'm sorry! So the only chapter left is the epilogue, and that will be the last chapter of this fic. But I do have like four different fic ideas, if you think I should keep writing! If you do and you also have ideas or prompts of things you'd like me to write, hit me up in the comments or on my brand new tumblr: maggiandmilo
> 
> Also, I've been typing everything in google docs and the file is 136 pages long and it lags so much now, I think I have to write the epilogue in another document xD
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, commenting and waiting, hope you enjoyed! <3


	14. The End?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the epilogue my friends!

Epilogue

 

_VIXX_

 

Sanghyuk stumbles into the kitchen somewhat awake, he just needs a small breakfast, he’s going out to eat anyway. He blinks in surprise when a cup of tea and a bowl of cereal enters his sight and he looks up to see Ken’s face looking at him expectantly. Assuming he had gotten in Ken’s way, he squints and takes a side step, Ken lets out an amused huff,

 

“No Hyukkie, it’s for you,” He laughs.

 

“For...me…” Sanghyuk scrunches his nose in thought, he was not awake enough for this, “Oh...OH, thank you hyuuungg!”

 

Ken lets out another amused laugh as Sanghyuk eagerly grabs the cup and plate, hurriedly gulping down the tea before attacking his food, he shakes his head then kisses Sanghyuk’s hair and leaves the kitchen,

 

“Have fun today Hyukkiee,” He chirps before leaving.

 

Sanghyuk scrapes the last of the cereal and hops to the sink to wash his dishes when a pair of arms wrap around his waist and pull him back into someone’s chest. His nose scrunches up again and squints at the arms,

 

“...Wonnie hyung?...”

 

There’s a ghost of a laugh next to Sanghyuk’s ear and he melts into Wonsik’s arms,

 

“Good morning babe, are you sure you’re awake?” He whispers.

 

“Not if you keep holding me like this,” Sanghyuk grumbles, but he doesn’t make any move to leave the embrace.

 

He can _feel_ Wonsik’s smirk and his arms tighten around Sanghyuk’s waist, Sanghyuk lets out a soft hum and rests his head on the shoulder behind him, Wonsik leans down and kisses him on the forehead,

 

“You can just go get ready babe, I’ll take of your dishes,” Wonsik murmurs.

 

“Hmm...are you sure?” Sanghyuk’s eyes are closed but he has a death grip on his dishes.

 

“I’m sure,” He moves to let go of Sanghyuk and Sanghyuk lets out a soft whine.

 

“No wait, don’t let go yet, please,” He whispers.

 

Wonsik immediately tightens his grip on the younger and leans his head on Sanghyuk’s. They stand like that for a minute before Sanghyuk stiffens,

 

“You can let go now if you want,” The words are hesitant and Wonsik opens his eyes to look at Sanghyuk, his lips are turned in a small frown and his eyes are scrunched shut,

 

“I don’t think I want to,” He closes his eyes again and tightens his grip a little more

 

Sanghyuk lets out a breathless laugh and relaxes again, minutes go by and finally they let go of each other, Wonsik takes the dishes from Sanghyuk who pecks him on the cheek,

 

“Thanks hyungie,” He murmurs and flees from the kitchen

 

Wonsik shakes his head fondly and turns to the sink.

 

Sanghyuk enters his room and grabs his clothes that he had left on his bed. He doesn’t notice Hongbin sitting up behind him, still in bed. He goes around the bed for his jacket that had fallen down but stops at the foot of the bed. Hongbin watches in bemusement as Sanghyuk glares at the empty bed,

 

“When I find the time I shall replace these sheets. Or get new ones. I hope you realize that you only carry bad memories now. You mean bedsheet.” Sanghyuk then sighs as Hongbin’s stomach turns to lead, “Although I suppose you did try to hug me. Technically. And you did wipe away my tears. Hmm… this is why I hate mornings, now I’m talking to my sheets,” Sanghyuk huffs and flounces to his jacket.

 

He gathers his jacket in his arms with his other clothes when he’s suddenly pounced on. He squeaks and turns, he looks up in to Hongbin’s eyes that were staring down at him, his elbows are on either side of Sanghyuk’s head and he can feel Hongbin’s breath. His eyes flutter shut as the other leans down and presses a soft kiss on his nose, then his cheeks and then his neck,

 

“Hyuung...I have to get ready...what are you doing?” He breathes out shudderingly.

 

Hongbin shifts back towards his face and gazes into Sanghyuk’s eyes, “Making better memories,” He whispers millimeters away from Sanghyuk’s lips.

 

Sanghyuk’s eyes fall shut again and he lets out a small gasp as Hongbin presses kisses to the corners of his mouth before kissing him deeply but sweetly. They break apart and Hongbin leans his forehead on Sanghyuk’s,

 

“I love you so much Hyukkie,” He says softly, but the words ring loud in Sanghyuk’s ears.

 

A small smile stretches across his face, “Yeah,” he breathes out, “I know. I love you too…”

Hongbin smiles back at him and rolls off Sanghyuk who makes a noise of displeasure at the time,

 

“Seriously hyung? At this rate I’m going to be late!”

 

“Worth it.”

 

Sanghyuk rolls his eyes and leaves the room.

 

He exits the bathroom with his hair wet and his towel around his shoulders, his shirt is slightly wet and he walks towards the laundry room to deposit his clothes. Hakyeon looks up from the laundry and smiles softly at Sanghyuk who had his eyes shut as he pushed back his dripping hair. Hakyeon stands up and takes Sanghyuk’s laundry out of his hand, dropping it in the right bucket. Sanghyuk’s eyes focus on him and his cheeks redden,

 

“Oh, thanks hyungie,” He shuffles his feet awkwardly and Hakyeon chuckles.

 

“Aren’t you running late?” He asks amused.

 

Sanghyuk pouts, “It’s not my fault, Hongbinnie hyung attacked me and wouldn’t leave me,” He crosses his arms.

 

Hakyeon takes a step closer to him in the small room, he’s inches away from Sanghyuk now and Sanghyuk’s arms drop to his side and he nearly falls over backwards trying to back away. Hakyeon’s arms shoot out and grab him by the waist, pulling the younger towards him,

 

“You should really be more careful,” He teases the boy in his arms softly.

 

“Why should I when I have you?” Sanghyuk banters back, not moving from his arms.

 

“Hmm you’re right, don’t worry Hyukkie, I’ll catch you whenever you fall,” He winks jokingly.

 

“I never did worry,” The words come out a bit more serious and Hakyeon softens.

 

“Good,” He whispers and he pulls Sanghyuk in, kissing him behind his ears, “I will _always_ be here for you,” His hot breath hits Sanghyuk’s ears and he shivers.

 

“I know,” He rests his head on Hakyeon’s shoulder, “...I know hyung.”

 

Hakyeon’s arms tighten around his waist for a moment and then they move, Hakyeon ruffles his wet hair,

  


“Go before you’re _too_ late, have fun,” He grins at the younger who nods and skips out of the room.

 

Sanghyuk hums as he picks up a small bag, he hollers out a quick goodbye and is about to open the door to leave when someone grabs his wrist, he’s spun around into Leo’s arms,

 

“And where do you think you’re going?”

 

“You know exactly where I’m going, and I’m going to be late,” Sanghyuk pouts.

 

“But I didn’t tell you I love you yet,” Leo whines.

 

“You don’t need to hyung, I know you love me,” Sanghyuk throws his arms around Leo’s shoulders and interlocks his fingers behind his neck.

 

“Well good, but I _want_ to,” Leo’s hands move to Sanghyuk’s waist and they look like they could be slow dancing, “I love you very very very much Hyukkie!”

 

Sanghyuk throws his head back with laughter, he looks at Leo, “Well I guess I’m lucky, because I love you very very very much too hyungie,”

 

“Nope. I’m obviously the lucky one here,” Leo grins and sways Sanghyuk a little.

 

Sanghyuk rolls his eyes and looks away but Leo can see the blush spreading on his cheeks, “Fine, anyways, I’m going now hyung!”

 

“What? No goodbye kiss?” He teased.

 

Sanghyuk giggles and plants a kiss on his nose, Leo pouts, “Hyukieee!”

 

He laughs this time and then kisses Leo shortly but sweetly, “I’ll see you later hyungie,” He smiles and then leaves the dorm.

 

As the door shuts he can hear Leo’s voice ring through the dorm, “Whoops, I guess he only kissed me goodbye, oh well, you’re just too late, eeek! No! Hyung, stop!”

 

Sanghyuk laughs to himself as he goes down the stairs, ready to meet up with his maknae friends who helped bring him back to this place of happiness.

 

_iKON_

 

Chanwoo skips out of his room feeling unreasonably happy, he heads to the living room but detours to the kitchen before he makes it, he sways to the music blasting in his headphones and doesn’t notice Jiwon and Hanbin leaning against the counter as he opens the fridge and begins to sing along to Dramarama softly, but still nailing it, he takes out a carton of orange juice and frowns as he places it next to the sink to reach for a cupboard,

 

“Is this our song? How did I-Of all the songs - Dammit-oh well,” He mutters to himself to the amusement of Jiwon and Hanbin.

 

Chanwoo grabs a glass from the cupboard and pours himself a glass, he gulps it down and as he pours himself a second glass he starts to seamlessly sing Hanbin’s part in Rhythm Ta and raps Jiwon’s entire verse, he continues to sing all the parts and rummages through the fridge again before getting a small hot pocket from the back with his name on it, he puts it in the microwave still singing and just as the song approaches his part he takes out his phone and stops the music. He takes out his earphones and sets his phone next to his glass of orange juice while waiting for the microwave,

 

“Well, that’s enough iKON music for today, I wanted to listen to things I can actually sing along to properly,” He says to himself as he scrolls through his playlist while taking out the hot pocket.

 

Hanbin and Jiwon exchange exasperated looks and wait for him to put his plate down,

 

“Yah, Channie-ah, are you trying to leave me jobless?” Jiwon jokingly demands.

Chanwoo’s head shoots up in shock, his hands fall to his sides, “Hyung! Wha-How long were you standing there?!”

 

Hanbin snorts, “We were here before you walked in,” He smirks as Chanwoo’s expression shifts from startled to resigned regret.

 

“Great, I am never listening to music in here again,” He runs a hand through his hair and leans back against the counter next to sink, choosing to finish his juice instead of dealing with his hyungs.

 

“What are you talking about? You nailed my verse! I didn’t even know you could rap like that!” Jiwon exclaims.

 

Chanwoo shoots him a weird look, “Hyung, I was just singing along, it isn’t that difficult,” He turns to his hot pocket deciding it deserved more attention than anything else.

 

Hanbin huffs, “And what about Junhoe’s part? All our parts actually? You just nailed every single note!”

 

Chanwoo laughs, “You’re ridiculous, I was just messing around, I didn’t even finish song.”

 

Jiwon shoots a look at Hanbin, they both had caught on to the fact that Chanwoo had stopped the song exactly at his ‘part’, they really did try to get him a better part, but there was nothing they could do. The worst part was that Chanwoo wasn’t even mad or offended, he took it as a sign to work harder and was grateful even for that part. They lunge forward in unison and squeeze Chanwoo from both sides, the maknae yelps as they kiss his cheeks.

 

“Yah get off!”

 

“Not until you admit you’re a good rapper and singer!” Hanbin tightens his grip.

 

“Ah! Seriously! Hyungs I have to go!” Chanwoo whines with a hint of mirth.

 

“We can do this all day,” Jiwon declares stubbornly.

 

“...”

  
“...”

 

“...”

 

“FINE! I give up!” Chanwoo squirms in their grip.

 

“Say it!”

 

“I’m a good singer and rapper,” He huffs quietly.

 

“Hmm...we’ll let you go for now,” Hanbin slowly lets go of Chanwoo and Jiwon lifts the maknae up slightly before setting him down.

 

Chanwoo takes a deep breath when he’s released, “Everyone here is crazy, I’m going now,” He grabs his hot pocket and sticks out his tongue at them as he leaves, they buckle over in laughter.

 

Hanbin smiles as he hears Chanwoo tease Junhoe who was trying to dance to GOT7’s song as he leaves, “I swear I’m stealing your verse next song, so I hope your dancing is better than that!”

 

“That’s the spirit,” Donghyuk’s voice rings and Chanwoo laughs.

 

The door shuts behind Chanwoo as he leaves and two seconds later comes a shriek, “Yah! You brat! Who raised you like that?!?”

 

“Jinhwan hyung did obviously,” Yunhyeong huffs.

 

“Damn straight I did, that’s my boy,” Jinhwan declares proudly.

 

_GOT7_

 

Yugyeom wakes up to a warm hand brushing back his hair, he hums and nuzzles into the palm, he distantly registers a soft coo, the hand stops briefly and he unintentionally lets out a whine, he slowly opens one eye,

 

“Jinyoungie hyung?” he mumbles sleepily.

 

“Good morning honey, you said you’d meet your friends in two hours, I have some food for you,” Jinyoung’s hand starts to run through Yugyeom’s hair once again and Yugyeom lets out a sigh of content.

 

“Okay, thanks for waking me up hyungie,” Yugyeom wraps one hand around Jinyoung’s waist and Jinyoung feels his heart swell from the affection and the word of thanks,

 

“Hmm, the others could learn some manners from you,” He mutters, pulling Yugyeom in closer.

 

Yugyeom giggles and stays like that for a while before finally sitting up to start getting ready. He knocks on the bathroom door, after a while Mark comes out with a towel and ruffles Yugyeom’s hair and kisses him on the cheek,

 

“Morning Gyeomie-bear,” He smiles before heading towards his room.

 

Yugyeom beams and skips into the bathroom, “Morning hyungie!”

 

He steps out a little while later and goes to his room and digs out his hair dryer. He plugs it in next to his bed and is about to turn it on when a hand takes it away from him,

 

“Here, I’ll do your hair sweets,” Bambam sits down on the bed behind him and Yugyeom hums in agreement.

 

He shuts his eyes tight when the hair dryer turns on and  relaxes as Bambam’s hand runs through his wet locks, tugging softly at the knots. He tilts his head back and sighs as Bambam’s fingers knead through his hair. When his hair becomes dry Bambam clicks off the dryer and puts his arms around Yugyeom’s stomach, Yugyeom leans back and the laugh as they fall backwards on the bed with Yugyeom on top of Bambam.

 

“We have to go soon, are you ready?” Yugyeom giggles.

 

“Nah, I’ll change now, you’d better go eat honey, I already ate,” Bambam pokes Yugyeom’s side and he squeaks and rolls off of Bambam.

 

“Okay,” Yugyeom chirps, he bounces into the kitchen.

 

Jinyoung smiles at him, “Hey, I’m going to take a shower, there’s your food, Jackson don’t eat Gyeomie’s food!”

 

Jackson raises his hands in surrender and Yugyeom giggles as Jinyoung leaves with a head shake.

 

“Good morning Gyeomie baby,” Jackson pulls Yugyeom onto his lap.

 

“Good morning hyungie!” Yugyeom puts one hand around Jackson’s shoulders and reaches for his food with his other, Jackson takes the plate from him,

 

“Here, let me,” Jackson leans back in his seat and moves to feed Yugyeom who instinctively opens his mouth and bites the food, Jackson smiles softly.

 

“It isn’t too much, you should eat some more when you’re out ok babe?” Jackson says as the plate is cleared.

 

“Of course hyungie,” He wraps his arms around Jackson as soon as he put down the plate, “Thank you!”

 

He runs out of the kitchen and Jackson laughs before bringing the plate to the sink.

 

“Woah!” Youngjae steadies Yugyeom before they both fall over from running into each other, “And where are you going in such hurry sweetheart?”

 

“I gonna as Jaebummie hyung for my charger back before I left,” Yugyeom bounces on his toes.

 

Youngjae laughs, “Where are you boys going?”

 

“To that puppy cafe! The puppies there are _sooo_ cute hyungie!!! You should come see them one time!” Yugyeom squeals.

 

Youngjae pinches Yugyeom’s cheek, “I already have a cute puppy though!”

 

“Hyuuungggiieee!” Yugyeom whines.

 

Youngjae snickers, “Alright, I’ll stop, tell you what, how about we go Friday afternoon?”

 

Yugyeom perks up, “Really?”

 

“Sure, my treat,” Youngjae shrugs.

 

“Ahh, thanks hyungie!” Yugyeom squeezes him tightly then lets him go, “Ok, I really need my charger!”

 

He dashes down the corridor to Jaebum’s room and Youngjae grins while mourning his wallet.

 

Yugyeom knocks on the door,

 

“Come in!” Jaebum calls

 

Yugyeom cracks the door open a little and pokes his head through, “Jaebummie hyungie?”

 

Jaebum’s smile widens as he sees his maknae, “Yah, I said come in!”

 

Yugyeom laughs nervously and enters the room while shutting the door behind him, “Umm I actually needed my charger back,” he scratches the back of his neck.

 

“Oh right! Wait a moment, it’s right here,” Jaebum walks to his desk and grabs the charger.

 

He then pads over to Yugyeom who was awkwardly shuffling his feet, “Here you go, anything else?”

 

“Oh uh, no hyungie, I um this is all, thanks!” Yugyeom’s arms move in what was clearly an aborted hug and Jaebum’s lips twitch in amusement.

 

He steps forward and brings Yugyeom in for a hug, the maknae squeaks and flails before wrapping his arms around Jaebum, he was still a little tense so Jaebum runs his hand along Yugyeom’s back and the maknae relaxes into his arms.

 

“Thanks hyungie,” Yugyeom murmurs.

 

“Anytime,” He pulls back holding Yugyeom’s shoulder’s to look him in the eye, “I mean it, you can be comfortable with me ok hun?”

 

Yugyeom’s cheeks redden and he squeaks out, “Of course hyung!”

 

Jaebum tilts his head in bemusement when the there’s a knock at the door. Yugyeom breaks out of Jaebum’s grasp and opens the door to see BamBam,

 

“Youngjae hyung said you were-” Bambam stops as he notices the blush on Yugyeom’s face and the confusion on Jaebum, he smirks, only confusing Jaebum more, “I see...anyway Gyeomie, if you’re quite done, we should go now,” His smirk intensifies.

 

Yugyeom glares at Bambam, “Not a damn word Bammie I swear to god, let’s go.”

 

Bambam raises his eyebrows and looks away, “okay, whatever you say!”

 

Yugyeom turns to Jaebum and gives him a hug before rushing out, “Bye Bummie Hyungie!”

 

Bambam stifles a laugh and shakes his head at Jaebum’s look.

 

They both leave the dorm and then Jackson yelps,

 

“Wait! Now Jaebum has _two_ nicknames, that little-!”

  


_MONSTA X_

 

Changkyun steps out of the bathroom with his hair wet and his shirt in his hand. He had wanted to wear that shirt, but now he sees that he had accidentally stained it at some point so he needs to find a new one. He sighs as he throws the shirt over his shoulder and walks past Kihyun’s room as the door opens, Kihyun takes one look at Changkyun and sighs,

 

“Yah! Dry your hair! You’re going to catch a cold! It’s winter not summer! Aish this kid, come here,” Kihyun drags Changkyun back to the bathroom where the hair dryer was kept and starts to dry his hair, suddenly grateful that Changkyun was only a little taller than him.

 

Kihyun does his hair while muttering under his breath about stupid kids who didn’t know how to stay healthy, but his hands are gentle on Changkyun’s scalp and he can barely feel the tug when Kihyun comes across any knots. Finally when Kihyun is satisfied, he puts the dryer away and turns to Changkyun,

 

“I’ve made some ramen, it isn’t too much so you can just take some before you go out, but you better eat properly when you’re there!” He points his finger threateningly.

 

“Of course Kihyunnie hyung!” Changkyun beams.

 

Kihyun sighs, “Go eat ok? And leave the dishes we’ll take care of it!”

 

“Thanks hyungie!” Changkyun hugs Kihyun and leaves the bathroom and Kihyun rolls his eyes but there’s a smile playing on his lips as he closes the bathroom door.

 

Hyunwoo smiles at Changkyun as he enters the kitchen, “Morning Kyunnie, sleep well?”

 

“Yes hyung! And you?” He asks as he gets himself a small bowl of ramen.

 

“I slept well, I was wondering if you’d want to catch that new movie with me later, like Thursday?” Hyunwoo asks.

 

“Oh yeah! Sure hyung!” Changkyun lights up and Hyunwoo smiles.

 

“I’ve spoken to the managers and we should be getting some time off soon, so I’m thinking about staying in for a day and watching a bunch of movies, what do you think?” Hyunwoo takes a sip of his tea.

 

“Hmm...sounds good to me! Should we cook or order in?” Changkyun sticks out his tongue after a particularly hot chopstick full.

 

Hyunwoo huffs and gets him a cup of cold water, “I was thinking of ordering so we can just relax.”

 

“Good idea hyung!” Changkyun chirps, he places his cleared bowl in the sink with the cup, “Thanks for the water hyung, I’ll see you later!”

 

Changkyun dashes into his room,

 

“Jooheonie, where did I put my bag?” Changkyun calls across the room as he checks under his sheets.

 

Jooheon looks up, “Umm check your closet, that place is a mess,” he wrinkles his nose.

 

“Shut up hyung,” Changkyun sticks out his tongue but opens his closet door anyway.

 

He digs around for a while and then lets out an exclamation of success, “Got it! Thanks hyung! Hey can you pass this back to Gunhee hyung?”

 

He holds out a blue sweater, “Sure, toss it here.”

 

Jooheon catches the fabric that sailed through the air, “I’m seeing him tonight, wanna join me? We can sleep over!”

 

“Hmm, yeah that’ll be fun, hey, can you pick me up from the cafe?” Changkyun asks as he digs around for a shirt to wear.

 

“Yeah, message me when you’re done and I’ll come over, we can go together,” Jooheon agrees.

“Great, now have you seen that grey sweater of mine?” Changkyun frowns.

 

“Umm, try Minhyuk hyung,” Jooheon suggests.

 

“Thanks hyung! See you soon!” Changkyun exits the room, still shirtless wondering where his sweater had went.

 

He runs into Minhyuk in the corridor, “Hyung! Jooheonie said you might know where my grey sweater went?”

 

“Oh yeah, I borrowed it the other day,” Minhyuk rubs his neck sheepishly.

 

“Hyunnngg!” Changkyun pouts.

 

“I missed you! You were gone all day!” Minhyuk protested.

 

Changkyun softens, “Hmmph, next time put it back or something!”

 

“Okay okay, I will, umm I think it may be hanging in the balcony,” He points down the corridor.

 

“Okay thanks hyung! See you later!”

 

“Sure, have fun Kyunnie!”

 

Changkyun shivers as the cold air hits him and he looks around before spotting the grey sweater hanging on a chair. He grabs it and hurries back into the dorm. The fabric was cold however, so he still needed a shirt to wear under it, so he turns to trudge back to his room when he runs straight into Hoseok, Hyungwon close behind him.

 

Hoseok grabs Changkyun’s arms as he tilts forward and holds him up, his eyes drop to Changkyun’s stomach before looking back up, Changkyun’s cheeks start to get pink,

 

“Not going out like this are you?” Hoseok teases.

 

Changkyun flushes, “Hyyuuunng! I just wanted my sweater! But now it’s cold! So I need another shirt!”

 

“I should have one similar to that sweater,” Hyungwon speaks up, “Come on!”

 

He grabs Changkyun’s wrist and drags him into his and Hoseok’s room, Changkyun sits on the bed while Hyungwon looks through his clothes. He startles as he feels a pair of arms snake around his torso from his back, Hoseok’s hair tickles his cheek as he nuzzles his face into Changkyun’s neck, his hands splayed across the boy’s stomach. Changkyun hums and leans into Hoseok who started to kiss his neck. Hyungwon turns around with the shirt in his hand and smirks at the sight of his two boyfriends, he smacks Hoseok with the shirt,

 

“Yah! He has no time!” He playfully scolds.

 

Changkyun laughs and stands up to get the shirt from Hyungwon while a disgruntled Hoseok pouts at them. He pulls the shirt over his head and then looks at Hyungwon,

 

“So? How does it look?”

 

“Perfect,” Hyungwon’s voice is low and he steps closer, “You look perfect.”

 

Changkyun lets out a small noise of surprise as Hyungwon closes the distance between them, wrapping his arms around the maknae’s neck, “You should wear our stuff more often.” He says as leans in for another kiss.

 

Changkyun feels Hoseok’s arms wrap around his waist again and the other boy starts to kiss his neck again and Changkyun melts into their embraces. Hyungwon pulls back and smirks slightly,

 

“We should stop before we make this too obvious,” He glances at Changkyun’s lips which had gotten more red. Hoseok pulls away from Changkyun, and the boy heads towards the door.

 

“You better come back soon,” He growls.

 

Changkyun smiles innocently, “Actually, I’m staying over at Gunhee’s tonight! With Jooheonie!” He chirps and then dashes for the exit before his boyfriends can react.

 

They hear the front door slam shut and they huff, “That brat!”

 

_BTS_

 

Jimin blinks awake slowly and sees Yoongi smiling over him, he hums, his eyes look at his side to Taehyung’s bed and sees Jin waking him up, he turns back to Yoongi,

 

“Good morning hyung, how did you sleep?” He murmurs, his voice rough with sleep.

 

Yoongi looks at him fondly, “I slept well Jiminnie, and you? Do you need to sleep in?”

 

Jimin sits himself up and stretches his back, “No, I’m ok, thanks hyungie!”

 

He hears Taehyung grumble at himself, and then Jin’s confused voice,

“What?”

 

Jimin huffs amused, “No TaeTae.”

 

“But why?” Taehyung whines.

 

“Boi you take twenty minutes to pick an outfit when we go out,” Jimin rolls his eyes and throws his legs over the bedside to look at Taehyung.

 

“Gahh! Come on Jiminnie! Please!” Taehyung groans but sits up and turns to face Jimin.

 

“Too late, you should have thought about it first,” Jimin jokes and stands up, he looks at Taehyung who pouts at him.

 

He crosses his arms, then he huffs, “Fine, but when Kookie-”

 

“Yes! Ok! Thank you! Pick for me!” Taehyung rolls back over and lies down.

 

“Umm what?” Jin looks at Jimin.

 

“He’s tired, he’ll wake up when Kookie wakes him up, and he’ll wear whatever I choose for him,” Jimin explains.

 

“Ohh, ok, well, I’ve got a small breakfast ready for you three when you’re done,” Jin smiles at them and leaves the room.

 

Yoongi pulls Jimin in for a hug and kisses his cheek, “Good morning babe,” He whispers again.

 

Jimin giggles, “Good morning hyungie,” He smiles at the other man.

 

“So Hobi and I want to take you out for dinner on Friday, what do you think angel?” Yoongi sits on Jimin’s bed as Jimin goes to his closet and picks out outfits for him and Taehyung.

 

“You know that I don’t mind where we are or when it is as long as we’re together hyung,” Jimin smiles, ever the diplomat.

 

Yoongi rolls his eyes, they were trying to get Jimin to voice his opinions more and this was a frequent stumbling block, “I know, but if you _did_ kind of care just a _little_ bit, then what would you say?”

 

Jimin stands up and moves in front of Yoongi, “Then I might say that I love dinner at restaurants for a special date night, and Friday is a romantic date,” he drops a kiss on Yoongi’s hair and Yoongi grabs him by the waist onto his lap,

 

“That’s better,” Yoongi murmurs and he kisses Jimin chastley until the younger boy swats him on the chest.

 

“I have to get ready hyungie,” He giggles at Yoongi’s pout and stands up, “I’ll see you later!”

 

Yoongi sighs and after Jimin leaves the room he drops on to his back on Jimin’s bed,

 

“You’re so whipped,” Taehyung’s deep voice startles Yoongi.

 

“Tae? I thought you were sleeping?”

 

“I was, until Jiminnie said he had to go, I’m still half asleep, ugh,” Taehyung grumbles.

 

“Did you have nightmares?” Yoongi asks curiously.

 

Taehyung sighs, “No, no, Jimin would have known if I did, I think I’m just a bit homesick? It was my mom’s birthday earlier and I just...yeah,” Taehyung rolls over to face the wall.

 

“We should go to Daegu together some time,” Yoongi declares, “It’ll be fun.”

 

Taehyung rolls onto his back, “You think?”

 

“Of course!”

 

“...Yeah, I’d like that, thanks hyung…”

 

“Anytime.” Yoongi smiles at the other boy.

 

The door opens and Jungkook walks in on auto pilot, he kneels down next to Taehyung’s bed, “Hey babe, I heard you didn’t want to wake up?”

 

Taehyung rolls over completely and pouts at Jungkook, “I was tired, I even let Jiminnie pick my outfit!”

 

Jungkook laughs, “And are you more awake now?”

 

Taehyung sticks out his tongue, “Meh, at least we’re seeing friends…”

 

“Gee, try not to sound _too_ excited,” Jungkook teases.

 

“I’ll be more awake after a shower,” Taehyung sighs and gets up, he grabs Jungkook’s hand and gets up, he gives the other boy a kiss, “I’ll shower first, can you help me find my notebook?”

Jungkook hums, “Sure, I’ll check,” he smiles at Taehyung who gives a half hearted smile before walking out.

 

“Good morning Yoongi Hyung!” Jungkook greets.

 

“Morning kiddo,” He smiles.

 

Jungkook opens Taehyung’s closet and Yoongi raises an eyebrow at the pillow fort inside, “Shh, it’s a secret, we hide in here when we feel scared. Or sad. Or overwhelmed.”

 

Yoongi eyes the space, but he understands the need for people to have their own safe space so he decides not to worry about it, a thought comes into his head, “So does this mean that at some point, you and Taehyung have both _come out of the closet_?” Yoongi smirks.

 

Jungkook groans, “Hyung! - Oh - found it!” He pulls out a notebook and then closes the closet and turns to Yoongi, “I can’t believe you just made that joke, I thought you were cool hyung!”

 

“Bold of you to assume I can’t do both,” Yoongi retorts.

 

Jungkook rolls his eyes but he’s smiling, “I can see why Jimin likes you,” he admits.

 

Yoongi grins, “I’ll see you later kiddo,” he leaves and Jungkook laughs after him.

 

Jungkook was actually woken up by Hobi hyung, the dancer had gently shaken him awake and Jungkook peered up at the face above him,

 

“Good...morning hyungie,” He yawns.

 

“Good morning Kookie, you have the breakfast date with your friends today,” Hoseok smiles.

 

“Oh right, thanks for waking me up hyung!” Jungkook sits up and shakes his head.

 

Hobi grins at him fondly, “Hey, so before I forget, I spoke with manager hyung earlier, he agreed to shorten our practices for a while because our dancing has been perfect recently!”

 

Jungkook’s head shoots up, “Seriously?!? That’s great hyung!”

 

Hoseok beams, “Right? I was thinking of going out for a Dance Line break to the arcade or something, what do you say?”

 

“Sure hyung! That sounds fun!” Jungkook grins back at him.

 

Just then the door opens and Jimin sticks his head in, “Good morning Hobi hyungie, Kookie ah!”

“Good morning!” They chorused.

 

“Hey Kookie-ah, Tae was feeling a bit tired this morning, he said he’ll wake up when you get there and he let me choose his clothes, I’ve just showered so you can either shower and wake him or whatever,” Jimin explains.

 

“Hmm, I’ll go see him first, he might prefer to shower first and feel more awake quicker,” Jungkook stands up an heads for the door.

 

Jimin nods, “Yeah, I thought so too.”

 

Jungkook squeezes Jimin’s shoulder as he passes by and Jimin pats him on the back, Jimin is about to leave when Hobi calls out,

 

“Aren’t you going to say hi to your boyfriend?” Hoseok pouts.

 

Jimin turns around and walks into room laughing, he shuts the door, “I said good morning didn’t I?”

 

Hoseok fake growls and corners Jimin into a wall, his forearms on either side of Jimin’s head, and he leans his forehead on Jimin’s.

 

“What is with you two and walls huh?” Jimin jokes.

 

“Just convenience,” Hoseok smirks.

 

Jimin rolls his eyes and then shuts it as Hoseok brings him in for a kiss, he sighs in content. They break apart and they stare at each other,

 

“Good morning hyung,” Jimin whispers.

 

“Good morning Jiminnie,” Hoseok kisses his cheek before leading them away from the wall.

 

“So I was just talking to Kookie, the dance line is getting a bit of a break from dancing, so we were thinking about going to an arcade, what do you think?” Hoseok asks.

 

“An arcade? Sure! I love it!” Jimin claps his hand and Hoseok chuckles.

 

“Great, you should probably eat before you run late now sweetie,” Hoseok ruffles Jimin’s hair and the younger beams at him before skipping out of the room, “Thanks, see you later hyung!”

 

Taehyung is exits the shower and tells Kookie that the bathroom is free, he’s almost done getting ready when he suddenly remembers that he left one of his jackets in Jungkook’s room. He passes Jimin who’s leaving the room and heading towards the kitchen,

 

“Better now TaeTae?”

 

“Yeah, Kookie’s probably almost done in the shower, I just needed my jacket,” He explains.

 

Jimin nods and leaves while Taehyung enters,

 

“Good morning Hobi hyung!” Taehyung chirps.

 

“Good morning Tae, left something with Kookie again?” He asks amused.

 

“Yeah, my jacket, I let him borrow it when we went for a movie and I forgot,” Taehyung laughs as he opens Kookie’s closet.

 

“You two are so cute,” Hoseok squeals.

 

Taehyung laughs, “Thanks, hey that reminds me, I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping with me on one of the weekends? I wanted to get some stuffed toys and stuff to send home as presents!”

 

“Oooh, present shopping! Yeah, why not? Just tell me when!” Hobi agrees.

 

“Great! I have the jacket, I should probably go eat now, see you later hyung!” Taehyung waves as he leaves the room and he bumps into Jungkook.

 

“Hey honey, what did you- oh the jacket, are you going to the kitchen now?” Jungkook raises an eyebrow.

 

“Yep, join me?” Taehyung beams.

 

Jungkook laughs and fake bows, “Of course!”

 

They join Jimin in the kitchen and gape at Namjoon and Jin who are hitting each other with dish towels, Jimin leans over to them,

 

“They don’t even know why they’re doing it,” Jimin stage whispers.

 

The other two laugh incredulously.

 

“The food’s on the table kids,” Jin yelps as he ducks.

 

“I also left the juice out if you wanted some!” Namjoon called as he twisted away from the cloth of doom.

 

The maknae line laugh as they finish their food while watching their hyungs battle it out in the kitchen.

 

Jimin stands up, “We’ll be going now hyungs! See you later! Don’t break anything!”

 

“Bye kids!”

 

“Take your coats!”

 

“Eat well!”

 

“Be careful!”

 

“Call us if you need anything!”

 

“Yes Namjin hyungs!” The kids chorus as they leave the dorm.

 

_The Maknaes_

 

The cashier looks up and she sighs as she sees the group of eight idols walk through the door. Why did they have to choose her shop to be a favorite? Why must they torture her so? How is she supposed to pretend that she is entirely uninterested in their existence? How will she ever be able to focus on her studies? Nobody came to this cafe. Not really. A few regulars was what kept the business running, it was supposed to be _peaceful_ . Why must the universe taunt her so? How is she supposed to keep away the pack of reporters vying for the information that these maknaes so comfortably threw around in her cafe? They felt too comfortable here, she deduced, but she was only one person working here. Nevertheless, she takes up the task and shoos away anyone who could make ~~her~~ the boys uncomfortable and makes sure that no sensitive information leaves the cafe. In the name of good customer service of course. Nothing special. She feels like should get a raise.

 

She picks up her pen and notepad and approaches their usual ( _usual dammit they were regulars now)_ table. She smiles in a way she hoped was friendly and not bothered, she doesn’t know if she succeeds, but they like her well enough so she doesn’t care,

 

“Suji-sii!” They chorus ~~(~~ ~~_god bless their fluffy souls they know her name how will she survive this)_ ~~

 

“Hello sirs, what can I get for you today?” She keeps her demeanor ~~dammit she does~~

“We see you so often Suji-sii, just call us oppa or something, how old are you actually?” Sanghyuk asks with a smile.

 

“Born in 2001, Sanghyuk-sii,” She replies neutrally ~~she was beaming~~

 

“So we _are_ your oppas! So call us oppa!” Taehyung chirped

 

 _Dammit._ “Then I must insist you don’t call me -sii either,” She smiles a little ~~her heart is failing~~

 

“So what would you like today, um, oppas, same as the other night?” _Control yourself dammit._

 

“Oh yeah! It was night last time!” Yugyeom grins ( _she is o.k.a.y)_

 

“And you were there then too,” Jimin frowns, “Are you always working?”

 

“During the holidays I basically live here, then I’m usually here except for school hours,” She explains without thinking.

 

They look horrified, “Don’t you have any free time?!?”

 

_Why the hell do they have to be so nice?? Just order already before I have a breakdown!_

 

She smiles to ease their worries, “This place has no workers, it’s a nice cafe and it does a lot for the dogs, my friends come over to help me when they can, but we’re basically all just studying, we watch movies sometimes over here, some of them are coming later today,” _Why must she talk so much?_

 

“There’s no one else to work here?” Changkyun looks crushed.

 

“Um, no, but it doesn’t really matter, I’m fine here!” She tries to reassure them.

 

The door chimes with an entrance, she turns to see who it was the she turns back to the table, forgetting who was in front of her for a moment. She rolls her eyes and huffs,

 

“Unbelievable, another table full. I deserve a raise dammit.”

 

The door chimes again, she turns and sighs in relief, “Yah! Seokie! Table 3! Then puppies!”

 

“Yes ma’am,” her friend salutes and goes to the table.

 

She turns back to the table in front of her, “Sorry about that, anyway, what can I get you today?”

 

Bambam raises an eyebrow, “Right. Fine.”

 

“Fight me dammit, I just needed money and peace, no one else has time to work here,” She accidentally says it out loud and her eyes widen, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”

 

Chanwoo laughs, “Relax, we don’t bite, you just want our order right?”

 

She almost cries in relief, “Umm yes, if you’re ready, that is.”

 

Finally she walks away with the order, she collapses at the cashier chair and shoves the order into her friend’s hand before slamming her head on the counter,

 

“Take the damn order, I’m suffering.”

 

Her friend who knows exactly what’s happening cackles at her. Rude.

 

The boys continue to laugh and chat for hours, she hears snippets of the conversation her and there,

 

“They made you a picnic?!?” Yugyeom shrieks at Changkyun.

 

“That’s how they confessed to you!? Oh my god Chimmie! That’s so cute!”

 

“I told you were an amazing rapper!” Changkyun shoves Chanwoo.

 

“You have a crush on Jaebum?!?” Yugyeom slams his head on the table.

 

“He’s taking you to Daegu! Tae you better bring me back gifts!”

 

“They ambushed you too?”

 

“Hidden cameras in the studio? Seriously? Omg Channie!”

 

“Behind the counter? And they were just listening to you?”

 

“I mean I just told them about it, I just needed some cuddles.”

 

“Don’t listen to him, I had to convince him first.”

 

“He just pulled up your sleeve?”

 

“Seriously? They fed you for that long because of your hand? Kyuuute!”

 

“They’re bringing you to an arcade? Sweet!”

 

“Is that Hyungwon’s shirt? Aww!”

 

“So I’m right! You have to sleep in the same bed as one of your members because they don’t trust you not to practice! That’s gold!”

 

Every now and then she brings over more food. It’s nearing 2pm and they’ve been there for 4 hours now. She’s managed to tune them out somewhat and she’s talking to her friend,

 

“I swear I think I’m going to have to make the other customers here sign an NDA or something, one of these days their conversations is going to be leaked, I can only do so much to keep nosy people away from here!”

 

“You should renovate and get them a soundproof booth, you can call it the idol booth,” Her friend joked.

 

“And then they’ll be like animals in a zoo, gah, they feel like actual people here, who am I to take that away?” She sighs.

 

“You could ask them be quieter?”

 

“Um, hi they’re idols? You know? Idols? It takes all my energy to _not_ fangirl! How can I do that them? Do you have any idea how much I wanted to tell Chanwoo-sii to sing more in the albums?!? But I shall not, because they are real people and I can’t do that to them,” She leans backwards on the counter.

 

“You’re a mess,” Her friend informs her.

 

“You say that like you _don’t_ have like 20 pictures of BamBam-sii on your table,” She teases.

 

“Shut up! Ok, so we’re both fangirls! Let’s move on!”

 

“Which brings us back to the start, I’ll just keep chasing annoying reporters and threatening nosy people I guess.”

 

“In the name of good customer service,” her friend nods sagely.

 

“And for the sake of these sirs.” She agrees dryly.

 

“I thought we said to call us oppa,” Comes Jungkook’s amused voice.

 

They turn around startled, “Oh my gosh!”

 

The boys waved off their words, “Thank you. Thank you for treating us so nicely and looking out for us, we promise we’ll be more quiet next time!” The boys pay and leave a large tip.

 

“See you next time Suji!” They call out as they leave.

 

Her friend laughs as she slams her head into the counter again. Later, when she is more relaxed, she smiles as she realizes that the boys’ conversations have gotten happier over the time, and despite her exasperation ~~and denial~~ she can’t help but feel happy for the, okay fine they were _her_ customers dammit...she couldn’t help but feel happy for _her customers._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINISHED EVERYONE!!! I wasn't entirely satisfied with the iKON bit, and I wasn't sure if the ending was ok, and you may have noticed that I gave Yugyeom a crush, not a boyfriend but you know...Im sorry I tried so hard not to do it! but there it is! I have gotten attached to this Universe, so if I come across any ideas I may publish some more.
> 
> Also I have written half a one shot for a Stray Kids & GOT7 fic, if you don't stan Stray Kids, go stan them, if you do stan them then do you agree that SKZ boys are total GOT7 fanboys?!? That's basically the whole premise of this fic, it's just fluff (with a hint of angst because I can't help it)
> 
> I also have a plot written for a Heechul centric SuJu fic because he's my bias and there isn't enough content. And another plot for a Changkyun centric MONSTA X. Plus a angsty birthday fic centered on Changkyun, Chanwoo and Moonbin. So those may be coming up, I don't know if anyone will want to read it but yeah.
> 
> Also if you have any prompts or ideas, things you want me to write, hit me up in the comments or my tumblr: maggiandmilo <3 <3
> 
> Thank you all so much for staying through this story and reading it and commenting and loving it!!! And also caring about my wellbeing in the process <3 I didn't actually sleep at all last night, and idk when I'm sleeping today, but I'm happy I got this done <3 <3
> 
> EDIT: SO as @AnotherGrammarNazi pointed out I had made mistake in how one goes about addressing their elders xD so I've just changed the last bit and the girl now refers to them as oppa instead of hyung. Thank you for your help!!! <333
> 
> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ *love* ヾ(＠＾▽＾＠)ﾉ *more love* ∩(︶▽︶)∩ *feel loved* *: ☆⌒ ⊂( ≧▽≦ ) ⊃ ⌒ ☆ :*


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